Oxygen reduction reaction on single Pt nanoparticle

Abstract Nanocollision electrochemistry is employed to evaluate the ORR's activity of one single Pt nanoparticle, the effect of the size and ligand is investigated. The size-normalized activity of the Pt nanoparticle of 4 nm is two times higher than that of 25 nm, confirming that the intrinsic activity does depend on the size of the nanoparticles. It is further found that the adsorbed ligand does yield effect on electrocatalysis, and the adsorption strength follows the order of PVP > CTAB > citrate. This work is of significance to understand the nature of the ORR's electrocatalysis at the level of an individual entity, which makes the structure-activity correlation in a more reliable way.