Surface Fermi Energy and Activity of Atomically Layered Pt/Ru Catalyst

Abstract

Understanding the relation between the surface composition of a catalyst and its catalytic activity toward species is key to enhancing the science of catalysis. The current state of knowledge on platinum-ruthenium (Pt-Ru) activity toward methanol is that an alloy with a 1:1 ratio of the two metals exhibits the highest activity. Here, we correlate the activity of a bilayer Pt-Ru catalyst to its surface composition. By using electrochemical techniques such as Cyclic Voltammetry (CV) and Copper Underpotential Deposition (Cu-UPD) in conjunction with Kelvin Probe Force Microscopy (KPFM), we demonstrate the effect of surface Fermi energy on catalyst activity.