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As a recent advancement in reaction engineering, magnetic induction heating (MIH) is utilized to initiate the intended reactions by enabling the self-heating of the ferromagnetic catalyst particles. While MIH can be energy-efficient and industrially scalable, its full potential has been underappreciated in catalysis because of the perception that MIH is merely an alternative heating approach. Unexpectedly, we show that the MIH-triggered reaction could go beyond standard thermal catalysis. Specifically, by probing the representative Pt/Fe3O4 catalysts with CO oxidation in both thermal and MIH modes with consistent temperature profiles and catalyst structures, we found that the MIH mode boosts the reactivity more than 25 times by modifying Pt−FeOx interfacial synergies and promoting facile oxidation of the adsorbed carbonyl species by atomic oxygen. As we preliminarily observed, this beneficial MIH catalysis can be translational to other thermal reactions, potentially paving the way to launch MIH catalysis as a distinct reaction category. 

Developing low platinum-group-metal (PGM) catalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in proton-exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) for heavy- duty vehicles (HDVs) remains a great challenge due to the highly demanded power density and long-term durability. This work explores the possible synergistic effect between single Mn site-rich carbon (MnSA-NC) and Pt nanoparticles, aiming to improve intrinsic activity and stability of PGM catalysts. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations predicted a strong coupling effect between Pt and MnN4 sites in the carbon support, strengthening their interactions to immobilize Pt nanoparticles during the ORR. The adjacent MnN4 sites weaken oxygen adsorption at Pt to enhance intrinsic activity. Well-dispersed Pt (2.1 nm) and ordered L12-Pt3Co nanoparticles (3.3 nm) were retained on the MnSA-NC support after indispensable high-temperature annealing up to 800 °C, suggesting enhanced thermal stability. Both PGM catalysts were thoroughly studied in membrane electrode assemblies (MEAs), showing compelling performance and durability. The Pt@MnSA-NC catalyst achieved a mass activity (MA) of 0.63 A mgPt−1 at 0.9 ViR‐free and maintained 78% of its initial performance after a 30,000-cycle accelerated stress test (AST). The L12-Pt3Co@MnSA-NC catalyst accomplished a much higher MA of 0.91 A mgPt−1 and a current density of 1.63 A cm−2 at 0.7 V under traditional light-duty vehicle (LDV) H2−air conditions (150 kPaabs and 0.10 mgPt cm−2). Furthermore, the same catalyst in an HDV MEA (250 kPaabs and 0.20 mgPt cm−2) delivered 1.75 A cm−2 at 0.7 V, only losing 18% performance after 90,000 cycles of the AST, demonstrating great potential to meet the DOE targets. 

Abstract Copper-based catalyst is uniquely positioned to catalyze the hydrocarbon formations through electrochemical CO₂reduction. The catalyst design freedom is limited for alloying copper with H-affinitive elements represented by platinum group metals because the latter would easily drive the hydrogen evolution reaction to override CO₂reduction. We report an adept design of anchoring atomically dispersed platinum group metal species on both polycrystalline and shape-controlled Cu catalysts, which now promote targeted CO₂reduction reaction while frustrating the undesired hydrogen evolution reaction. Notably, alloys with similar metal formulations but comprising small platinum or palladium clusters would fail this objective. With an appreciable amount of CO-Pd₁moieties on copper surfaces, facile CO^*hydrogenation to CHO^*or CO-CHO^*coupling is now viable as one of the main pathways on Cu(111) or Cu(100) to selectively produce CH₄or C₂H₄through Pd-Cu dual-site pathways. The work broadens copper alloying choices for CO₂reduction in aqueous phases.