Boron and nitrogen codoped carbon nanohorn-supported Pt nanocrystals as highly-efficient methanol oxidation electrocatalysts

Abstract

The large-scale commercialization of direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs) largely depends on the design and synthesis of advanced Pt-based anode catalysts with excellent electrocatalytic performance and acceptable costs. Herein, we propose a controllable and scalable method to the construction of ultrafine Pt nanocrystals supported by boron and nitrogen codoped carbon nanohorns (Pt/BN-CNH) as electrocatalysts for methanol oxidation reaction. The as-derived Pt/BN-CNH architectures are endowed with a series of interesting physicochemical properties, such as accessible internal pores, numerous active conical tips, coexistence of B and N atoms, and homogeneous Pt distribution. Consequently, the resulting Pt/BN-CNH catalysts present high catalytic activity, reliable long-term stability as well as strong antipoisoning capacity towards methanol oxidation, all of which are superior to those of conventional Pt/carbon black, Pt/carbon nanotube, Pt/graphene and Pt/undoped CNH catalysts, thus offering great potentials in the next-generation DMFC devices.