2026-10-12T22:02:59Z https://api.figshare.com/v2/oai

oai:figshare.com:article/34033189 2026-09-30T14:34:14Z category_146 category_15 category_21 category_24 category_272 category_106 category_811 portal_63 item_type_6 month_year_09_2026

Intermetallic Passivation Imparts Corrosion Resistance and Enables Intrinsic Electrocatalytic Activity Promotion Majd M. Matalkeh (25144474) Jin Li (119007) Andrew J. Wong (3070932) Alan Dang (6494057) Bryan D. Vogt (1501018) Michael J. Janik (467462) Ezra L. Clark (1557562) Space Science Neuroscience Biotechnology Evolutionary Biology Environmental Sciences not elsewhere classified Science Policy Mathematical Sciences not elsewhere classified precious metal catalysts intermetallic passivation layer electrochemical cycling produces limited efficacy due 2 </ sub ge intermetallic work demonstrates magnitude compared low activity electrochemical near corrosion susceptibility corrosion resistance cationic ge bulk pdge bifunctional effects Electrocatalytic technologies are limited by reliance on precious metal catalysts with low activity. Intermetallics can alleviate these challenges but have limited efficacy due to corrosion susceptibility. Herein, we demonstrate that electrochemical cycling produces a near-surface Pd + Ge intermetallic with corrosion resistance far exceeding that of bulk PdGe. Corrosion resistance is enhanced by the presence of more cationic Ge at the surface, which acts as an intermetallic passivation layer. This enhanced corrosion resistance enables the material to be utilized as an electrocatalyst under conditions where bulk PdGe rapidly corrodes. The material exhibits exceptional activity for O₂ reduction, which is enhanced by roughly an order of magnitude compared to Pd on a per Pd surface atom basis. Density functional theory suggests that activity promotion occurs via electronic and bifunctional effects. This work demonstrates that electrochemical near-surface alloying can produce remarkably corrosion resistant materials with superior electrocatalytic activity despite a reduced precious metals content. 2026-09-30T00:00:00Z Text Journal contribution 10.1021/jacs.6c09853.s001 https://figshare.com/articles/journal_contribution/Intermetallic_Passivation_Imparts_Corrosion_Resistance_and_Enables_Intrinsic_Electrocatalytic_Activity_Promotion/34033189 CC BY-NC 4.0