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Rational Design Of Highly Efficient Electrocatalysts Using Atomic Layer Deposition: From Nanoparticle To Single Atom, Junjie Li

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) have been attracted significant attention due to their high energy efficiency. The electrocatalyst is one of the most important parts. However, state-of-the-art electrocatalysts suffer from several challenges, including 1) low stability under harsh working conditions; 2) low atomic utilization efficiency, especially for noble metals. This thesis, therefore, focuses on the design of highly efficient and stable electrocatalysts from nanoparticles down to single atoms using atomic layer deposition (ALD) and further understand the insight mechanisms.

Firstly, Pt nanoparticles are selectively deposited on the TiO₂ modified N-doped carbon nanotubes. The strong metal-support interactions between Pt …