Low‐Electronegativity Mn‐Contraction of PtMn Nanodendrites Boosts Oxygen Reduction Durability

Abstract Platinum metal (PtM, M=Ni, Fe, Co) alloys catalysts show high oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) activity due to their well‐known strain and ligand effects. However, these PtM alloys usually suffer from a deficient ORR durability in acidic environment as the alloyed metal is prone to be dissolved due to its high electronegativity. Herein, we report a new class of PtMn alloy nanodendrite catalyst with low‐electronegativity Mn‐contraction for boosting the oxygen reduction durability of fuel cells. The moderate strain in PtMn, induced by Mn contraction, yields optimal oxygen reduction activity at 0.53 A mg −1 at 0.9 V versus reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE). Most importantly, we show that relative to well‐known high‐electronegativity Ni‐based Pt alloy counterpart, the PtMn nanodendrite catalyst experiences less transition metals’ dissolution in acidic solution and achieves an outstanding mass activity retention of 96 % after 10,000 degradation cycles. Density functional theory calculation reveals that PtMn alloys are thermodynamically more stable than PtNi alloys in terms of formation enthalpy and cohesive energy. The PtMn nanodendrite‐based membrane electrode assembly delivers an outstanding peak power density of 1.36 W cm −2 at a low Pt loading and high‐performance retention over 50 h operations at 0.6 V in H 2 ‐O 2 hydrogen fuel cells.