Octahedral Pt₂CuNi Uniform Alloy Nanoparticle Catalyst with High Activity and Promising Stability for Oxygen Reduction Reaction

Development of a highly active and stable electrocatalyst is of great significance in the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) research. Although octahedral Pt–Ni nanoparticle catalysts have attracted much interest because of their high activity, their poor stability raises a severe issue for real applications. We achieve both outstanding ORR activity and much improved catalyst stability by preparing octahedral Pt₂CuNi alloy nanoparticles with uniform element distribution, with the activity far exceeding the DOE target and the stability comparable to that of state-of-the-art Pt/C. The improved stability is attributed to uniform elemental distribution within the ternary particles, which helps with formation of intact Pt surface layers and good retention of the octahedral morphology.