TY - JOUR
T1 - First-Principles Calculation of Pt Surface Energies in an Electrochemical Environment
T2 - Thermodynamic Driving Forces for Surface Faceting and Nanoparticle Reconstruction
AU - McCrum, Ian T.
AU - Hickner, Michael A.
AU - Janik, Michael J.
N1 - Funding Information:
I.T. McCrum gratefully acknowledges support from The Pennsylvania State University Diefenderfer Graduate Fellowship and the National Science Foundation NRT #1449785. This work used the Extreme Science and Engineering Discovery Environment (XSEDE), supported by National Science Foundation Grant Number ACI-1053575.
PY - 2017/7/18
Y1 - 2017/7/18
N2 - Platinum is a widely used catalyst in aqueous and electrochemical environments. The size and shape of Pt nanoparticles and the faceting (and roughness) of extended Pt surfaces change during use in these environments due to dissolution, growth, and reconstruction. Further, many Pt nanoparticle synthesis techniques are carried out in an aqueous environment. The surface structures formed are impacted by the relative surface energies of the low index facets in these environments. Density functional theory is used to calculate the surface energy of the low index facets of platinum as a function of electrochemical potential and coverage of adsorbed hydrogen, hydroxide, oxygen, and the formation of surface oxide in an aqueous environment. Whereas Pt(111) is the lowest energy bare surface in vacuum, the strong adsorption of hydrogen to Pt(100) at low potentials and of hydroxide to Pt(110) and oxygen to Pt(100) at high potentials drives these surfaces to be more stable in an electrochemical environment. We experimentally conditioned a polycrystalline platinum electrode by cycling the potential and find a growth in the total area as well as in the fraction of 110 and 100 sites, which are lower in energy at potentials where dissolved Pt is deposited or surface oxide is reduced. Further, we find that the lower surface energy of Pt(100) at low potentials may play a role in the growth of tetrahexahedral nanoparticles seen on square wave cycling of spherical Pt nanoparticles. Wulff constructions are presented as a function of Pt electrode potential.
AB - Platinum is a widely used catalyst in aqueous and electrochemical environments. The size and shape of Pt nanoparticles and the faceting (and roughness) of extended Pt surfaces change during use in these environments due to dissolution, growth, and reconstruction. Further, many Pt nanoparticle synthesis techniques are carried out in an aqueous environment. The surface structures formed are impacted by the relative surface energies of the low index facets in these environments. Density functional theory is used to calculate the surface energy of the low index facets of platinum as a function of electrochemical potential and coverage of adsorbed hydrogen, hydroxide, oxygen, and the formation of surface oxide in an aqueous environment. Whereas Pt(111) is the lowest energy bare surface in vacuum, the strong adsorption of hydrogen to Pt(100) at low potentials and of hydroxide to Pt(110) and oxygen to Pt(100) at high potentials drives these surfaces to be more stable in an electrochemical environment. We experimentally conditioned a polycrystalline platinum electrode by cycling the potential and find a growth in the total area as well as in the fraction of 110 and 100 sites, which are lower in energy at potentials where dissolved Pt is deposited or surface oxide is reduced. Further, we find that the lower surface energy of Pt(100) at low potentials may play a role in the growth of tetrahexahedral nanoparticles seen on square wave cycling of spherical Pt nanoparticles. Wulff constructions are presented as a function of Pt electrode potential.
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U2 - 10.1021/acs.langmuir.7b01530
DO - 10.1021/acs.langmuir.7b01530
M3 - Article
C2 - 28640641
AN - SCOPUS:85025450074
VL - 33
SP - 7043
EP - 7052
JO - Langmuir
JF - Langmuir
SN - 0743-7463
IS - 28
ER -