A novel structure of catalyst, submonolayer Pt-decorated Au, has been synthesized with minimal use of Pt and shows markedly improved activity toward formic acid oxidation where it facilitates the direct oxidation of formic acid by suppressing the formation of poisonous species COads via the "ensemble" effect.

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We report the controlled synthesis of dendritic Au@Pt core-shell nanomaterials. The size and morphology of the Au cores and the Pt shell thickness of the Au@Pt core-shell nanostructures could be easily tuned. It was found that the directing agent and the reducing agent play critical roles in the synthesis of dendritic Au@Pt core-shell nanomaterials. For comparison purposes, conventional Au@Pt core-shell nanoparticles and monometallic Pt nanoparticles were also synthesized by the successive reduction method. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) observations demonstrated the dendritic surface of the products obtained. The UV-visible (UV-vis) spectroscopy results and a comparison of the average diameter between the dendritic Au@Pt and conventional Au@Pt confirmed the relatively loose Pt shells around Au cores for the dendritic Au@Pt. The as-prepared dendritic Au@Pt showed enhanced electrocatalytic activity for methanol oxidation in acid medium, compared to the conventional Au@Pt and monometallic Pt.

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