Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania, Harvard University, Paul Scherrer Institute, and Stony Brook University characterized  Cu-Pt catalyst nanoparticles with the Hummingbird Scientific gas heating TEM sample holder. In-situ high-temperature annealing, gas treatments under STEM and EDS/EELS, and in-situ X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) were conducted to characterize the nanoparticle microstructural evolution under redox conditions.

• Core-shell Cu-Pt particles were stable at 400 °C, with the Pt-rich layer protecting the Cu core from oxidation.
• 800 °C anneal caused a transformation into an intermetallic CuPt phase with O₂ oxidation fully reversible by H₂ reduction.
• Stability and reversibility of catalytic degradation of CuPt nanostructures may help to reduce catalyst cost by reducing necessary Pt content.

Reference: Alexandre C. Foucher, Shengsong Yang, Daniel J. Rosen, Renjing Huang, Jun Beom Pyo, Ohhun Kwon, Cameron J. Owen, Dario Ferreira Sanchez, Ilia Sadykov, Daniel Grolimund, Boris Kozinsky , Anatoly I. Frenkel, Raymond J. Gorte, Christopher B. Murray, Eric A. Stach, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 145 (9) 5410-5421 (2023) DOI: 10.1021/jacs.2c13666 Abstract

Image copyright © 2023 American Chemical Society