Engineering PtCu nanoparticles for a highly efficient methanol electro-oxidation reaction

Pengfei Yao; Jing Cao; Mingbo Ruan; Ping Song; Xue Gong; Ce Han; Weilin Xu

doi:10.1039/d1fd00047k

Engineering PtCu nanoparticles for a highly efficient methanol electro-oxidation reaction

Faraday Discuss. 2022 Apr 5;233(0):232-243. doi: 10.1039/d1fd00047k.

Authors

Pengfei Yao^{1

2}, Jing Cao^{1

2}, Mingbo Ruan¹, Ping Song¹, Xue Gong¹, Ce Han¹, Weilin Xu^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Electroanalytical Chemistry, Jilin Province Key Laboratory of Low Carbon Chemical Power, Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 5625 Renmin Street, Changchun, Jilin, 130022, P. R. China. weilinxu@ciac.ac.cn.
² University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui, 230026, P. R. China.

PMID: 34874380
DOI: 10.1039/d1fd00047k

Abstract

Achieving a highly efficient and durable methanol electro-oxidation catalyst in acid media is critical for the practical utilization of direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs) at the commercial scale. Herein, we report a facile and effective one-pot strategy for the synthesis of carbon-supported PtCu alloy nanoparticles (PtCu NPs) with a Pt-rich surface, small particle size and uniform dispersion. The as-prepared PtCu NPs with the optimal alloy composition (Pt₂Cu) exhibit a significantly improved electrochemical methanol oxidation reaction performance in terms of a high activity, superior CO tolerance and remarkable durability, in contrast to those of commercial Pt/C catalysts in acid media. Particularly, the Pt₂Cu/C catalyst exerts a 4.5 times enhancement in the mass activity and a larger I_f/I_b value compared to those of commercial Pt/C (Pt/C_comm). The enhanced catalytic activities can be ascribed to the high utilization of Pt and the high index facets of the surface. Also, the addition of Cu downshifts the d-band center of Pt and improves the CO tolerance during the methanol oxidation reaction process. This work provides an efficient strategy for designing desired Pt-based alloys for various catalytic reactions.