Gram-scale synthesis of Pt-Cu nanowires with enhanced electrocatalytic activity towards methanol oxidation reaction????(Open Access)

Key Words:Platinum alloys;Binary alloys - Copper alloys - Electron diffraction - Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry - Methanol - Nanowires - X ray photoelectron spectroscopy

Abstract:A facile method to prepare Pt-Cu nanowires (NWs) was introduced. Structural characterization such as high-resolution transmission electron microscope (HR-TEM), selected-area electron diffraction (SAED), EDS element mapping, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) showed the formation of Pt-Cu alloy, with a width of 4.5 nm on average. The formation process of Pt-Cu NWs was studied; it was found that bromine ion, who has preferential adsorption on Pt (100) face, served as a growth-directing agent; Brij58 not only served as a protector but also played an important role in forming Pt-Cu NWs; the mechanism was proposed. Their electrocatalytic activity towards methanol oxidation was investigated; we found that the current density of Pt-Cu NWs was 295 mA·mg^-1 when the ratio of Pt/Cu is 1: 1, which is 11.5 and 2.35 times higher than that of pure Pt (26 mA·mg^-1) and commercial Pt/C (126 mA·mg^-1). The high electrocatalytic activity is attributed to the presence of abundant structural defects and surface active sites on the synthesized Pt-Cu NWs.<br/> © 2019 Ning Sui et al.

Volume:2019

Issue:wu

Translation or Not:no