Precisely Controlled Synthesis of Pt-Pd Octahedral Nanoframes as a Superior Catalyst towards Oxygen Reduction Reaction

Pt-based nanoframes represent a class of promising catalysts towards oxygen reduction reaction. Herein, we, for the first time, successfully prepared Pt-Pd octahedral nanoframes with ultrathin ridges less than 2 nm in thickness. The Pt-Pd octahedral nanoframes were obtained through site-selected deposition of Pt atoms onto the edge sites of Pd octahedral seeds, followed by selective removal of the Pd octahedral cores via chemical etching. Due to that a combination of three-dimensional opens geometrical structure and Pt-skin surface compositional structure, the Pt-Pd octahedral nanoframes/C catalyst shows a mass activity of 1.15 A/mg_Pt towards oxygen reduction reaction, 5.8 times enhancement in mass activity relative to commercial Pt/C catalyst (0.20 A/mg_Pt). Moreover, even after 8000 cycles of accelerated durability test, the Pt-Pd octahedral nanoframes/C catalyst still exhibits a mass activity which is more than three times higher than that of pristine Pt/C catalyst.