Pt NPs Supported on CeO/C as Electrocatalysts for Oxygen Reduction Reaction: Novel Physicochemical Insights on the Synthesis and on the Improved Activity and Stability.

This study emphasizes the effect of CeO on the Pt nanoparticle (NP) dimension, stability, and activity versus the oxygen reduction reaction. It is demonstrated that the one-pot synthesis of Pt NPs along with CeO NPs over carbon support produces small Pt NPs (2 nm) with higher activity, than the sole Pt NPs, thanks to the cooperative interaction exerted by CeO. This is nicely demonstrated by using synchrotron wide-angle X-ray total scattering and advanced data analysis, monitoring the in situ nucleation and growth of Pt NPs in the presence of preformed CeO NPs or of a Ce precursor.

Boosting the O-to-HO Selectivity Using Sn-Doped Carbon Electrocatalysts: Towards Highly Efficient Cathodes for Actual Water Decontamination.

The high cost and often complex synthesis procedure of new highly selective electrocatalysts (particularly those based on noble metals) for HO production are daunting obstacles to penetration of this technology into the wastewater treatment market. In this work, a simple direct thermal method has been employed to synthesize Sn-doped carbon electrocatalysts, which showed an electron transfer number of 2.04 and outstanding two-electron oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) selectivity of up to 98.