Ternary PtIrNi Catalysts for Efficient Electrochemical Ammonia Oxidation

Ammonia (NH3) has proved to be an effective alternative to hydrogen in low-temperature fuel cells via its direct ammonia oxidation reaction (AOR). However, the kinetically sluggish AOR has prohibitively hindered the attractive direct ammonia fuel cell (DAFC) applications. Here, we report an efficient AOR catalyst, in which ternary PtIrNi alloy nanoparticles well dispersed on a binary composite support consisting of porous silicon dioxide (SiO2) and carboxyl-functionalized carbon nanotube (PtIrNi/SiO2-CNT-COOH) through a sonochemical-assisted synthesis method. The PtIrNi alloy nanoparticles, with the aid of abundant OHad provided by porous SiO2 and the improved electrical conductivity by CNTs, exhibit remarkable catalytic activity for the AOR in alkaline media. It is evidenced by a lower onset potential (∼0.40 V vs reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE)) at room temperature than that of commercial PtIr/C (ca. 0.43 V vs RHE). Increasing NH3 concentrations and operation temperatures can significantly enhance AOR activity of this PtIrNi nanoparticle catalyst. Specifically, the catalyst at the temperature of 80 °C exhibits a much lower onset potential (∼0.32 V vs RHE) and a higher peak current density, indicating that DAFCs operated at a higher temperature are favorable for increased performance. Constant-potential density functional theory (DFT) calculations showed that the Pt–Ir ensembles on {100}-terminated surfaces serve as the active site. The introduction of Ni raises the center energy of the density of states projected onto the group d-orbitals of surface sites and thus lowers the theoretical onset potential for *NH2 dehydrogenation to *NH compared to Pt and Pt3Ir alloy.