Pt₃₅Cu₆₅ nanoarchitecture: A highly durable and effective electrocatalyst towards methanol oxidation

Aiming at electro-catalytic performance enhancement and reduction of catalyst cost, Pt_xCu_1-x(Pt₃₅Cu₆₅, Pt₅₃Cu₄₇, and Pt₆₈Cu₃₂) nanoarchitecture samples with controllable atomic composition, similar morphology and particle-size have been prepared by using a one-pot chemical route. The as-prepared Pt_xCu_1-x nanoarchitectures are confirmed as consisting of the integration of initial small alloy nanoparticles (NPs), resulting in an interconnected nanoporous structure. The electrochemical experiments indicate that these Pt_xCu_1-x nanocatalysts exhibit atomic composition dependent catalytic activity, although the surfaces of all the catalysts were characterized to be featured with a Pt enrichment structure. With optimal atomic composition, the Pt₃₅Cu₆₅ catalyst possesses enhanced electro-catalytic activities towards methanol oxidation in comparison with other Pt_xCu_1-x samples and pure Pt catalyst with similar morphology. Furthermore, the integrated Pt₃₅Cu₆₅ nanoarchitecture displays good durability during the long term electrochemical scanning through as many as 1500 cycles. The comparable catalytic performance of Pt₃₅Cu₆₅ catalyst could be attributed to the interconnected initial small NPs, formation of open porous structure, durable nanoarchitecture, and synergetic effect of the alloyed atoms. The structural evolution from metastable small alloy NPs to integrated stable nanoarchitectures may provide new opportunities to design and prepare novel composite materials with durable structure and effective catalytic properties.