Bimetallic Alloyed PtCu Nanocubic Frames with Three‐Dimensional Molecular Accessible Surfaces for Boosting Oxygen Reduction and Glycerol Oxidation Reactions

Abstract

Three‐dimensional (3D) hollow nanoframes with high surface‐to‐volume ratio and abundant accessible active sites are a type of promising catalysts, albeit with the challenging synthesis by a one‐step solvothermal method. In this research, uniform bimetallic PtCu alloyed hollow cubic nanoframes (HCNFs) were synthesized with high yield by a simple, template‐free, one‐step co‐reduction approach, where cetyltrimethylammonium chloride (CTAC), Cl−/O2, ethanolamine, and oleylamine served as the structure director, oxidative etchant, reducing agent, and co‐reductant, respectively. The architectures were characterized by a series of characterization techniques. Combined with the 3D hollow structures, PtCu HCNFs exhibited enlarged specific/mass activities, boosted catalytic activity, and improved durability for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and glycerol oxidation reaction (GOR) compared with Pt nanocubes (Pt NCs), commercial Pt/C (20 wt %), and Pt black catalysts in alkaline solutions. This work provides guidelines for the rational design and synthesis of frame‐like nanocatalysts with superior catalytic activity and stability.

A New Generation of Platinum‐Copper Electrocatalysts with Ultra‐Low Concentrations of Platinum for Oxygen‐Reduction Reactions in Alkaline Media

“…Pt 0.25 Cu electrocatalyst still exhibits good activity ( E o 0.97 V vs. RHE) vs. Pt/C ( E o 0.95 V vs. RHE). After ADTs, Pt 0.25 Cu electrocatalyst exhibits high activity compared to Pt/C, due to the electron interaction effect between Pt−Cu and high SSA . Table S2 compares the catalytic activity of Pt 0.25 Cu electrocatalyst with the published in the literature.…”

“…In this study, Pt−Cu NPs are rich in Cu, leading to enhanced catalytic activity. The alloying Pt with 3d transition metals can change the electronic structure of Pt, thus prompting the O 2 reduction . The presence of Cu may enhance the OH ˗ generation, and thus improving CO tolerance .…”

Noble Metal Based Alloy Nanoframes: Syntheses and Applications in Fuel Cells

“…For instance, uniform PtCu alloy hollow cubic NFs were synthesized by Wang et al, and these 3D nanoarchitectures show the larger specific as well as mass activities and improved durability toward ORR in comparison with the Pt nanocubes, commercial Pt/C as well as Pt black catalyst under alkaline solution (Wang et al, 2018a).…”

Gold‐Silver Catalysts: Ruling Factors for Establishing Synergism

“…[5,6] However, monometallic Au suffers from deactivation due to nanoparticle sintering or to the formation of carbonyl compounds irreversibly adsorbed on the active sites of the catalysts. [7][8][9][10] Many papers reported the synergistic effect of bimetallic structures in different catalytic reactions, such as PtCu alloys, [11,12] or PtPd alloys [13] compared to monometallic Pt. As well as Y. Wang et al [14] reported a synergistic effect in a bimetallic structure of ZnO and TiO 2 .…”