Synthesis control of rhombic dodecahedral PtNiFe nanostructures for enhanced oxygen reduction reaction

Platinum and platinum-based alloys have been reported to exhibit enhanced electrochemical properties in proton exchange membrane fuel cells and electrolyzers. The development of platinum alloy-based catalysts has focused on designing structures with highly active surfaces and optimizing the utilization of the noble metal Pt. In this study, we demonstrate the synthesis of novel nanostructures with a rhombic dodecahedral morphology through precursor syntheses of Pt, Ni, and Fe. The obtained nanostructures were classified based on the reaction time of the precursors. Specifically, nanostructures synthesized with a reaction time of 5.5 minutes exhibited approximately 7.5 times higher specific activity and 4 times higher mass activity for the oxygen reduction reaction compared to commercial Pt/C catalysts. This superior catalytic activity can be ascribed to the increased content of Ni and Fe in the nanostructures, which leads to structural compression.