Quantized Electrodes: Atomic Palladium and Gold in Polyaniline

Electrochemically deposited PdmAun metal clusters on a polyaniline-coated Pt electrode have been shown to exhibit an ordering effect, in which the catalytic activity for n-propanol oxidation depends sensitively on the precise order that the metal atoms are deposited. For example, tri-atomic Pd2Au clusters exhibit different catalytic activity for electrodeposition order Pd-Pd-Au compared to Pd-Au-Pd on the polyaniline (PANI)/Pt matrix. In this work, we utilize density functional theory (DFT) to elucidate the structure and energetics of tri-atomic PdmAun clusters attached to a model PANI support. We provide a rationale for the experimentally observed ordering effect in terms of specific covalent interactions between the metal atoms and PANI framework that alter the net stability of the metal catalyst. We find that hydroxyl radical binding energies computed for the model catalytic systems provide a good descriptor for the experimentally measured catalytic activity for n-propanol oxidation. In addition, the good correlation between experiment/theory serves as additional confirmation of our proposed catalytic structures and rationale of the previously unexplained ordering effect. Our study highlights the important role of the PANI support in determining the activity of uniquely-defined, atomic metal catalysts.

Automated summary

In this study, the ordering effect of electrochemically deposited PdmAun metal clusters on a polyaniline-coated Pt electrode for n-propanol oxidation was investigated using density functional theory. The specific covalent interactions between the metal atoms and the PANI framework were found to be responsible for altering the net stability of the metal catalyst, leading to different catalytic activities. The good correlation between experimental and theoretical results confirmed the proposed catalytic structures and rationale for the previously unexplained ordering effect.