Tuning intrinsic strain in PtCuCr nanoframes boosts electro-oxidation of liquid fuels

Abstract

Modulating the intrinsic strain of metal catalysts has become one of the most powerful strategies to boost the electro-catalytic properties. Herein, we report PtCuCr nanoframes (NFs) with tunable surface strain synthesized by different heating model. PtCuCr h-NFs (hexapod NFs) exhibit ∼ 2.3% compressive strain compared to PtCuCr d-NFs (dendrite NFs). The compressive strain modulates the electronic structure (e.g., d-band center) of PtCuCr NFs and endows them with superior activity toward the methanol and formic acid electro-oxidation reactions (MOR and FAOR). Particularly, the specific activities of PtCuCr h-NFs for MOR and FAOR are 4.13 mA cm−2 and 1.12 mA cm−2, respectively, which are 1.35 and 1.84 times higher than those of PtCuCr d-NFs. Mechanistic studies reveal that compression on the surface of PtCuCr h-NFs can weaken the bonding strengths of CO species as well as contributed to the oxidation of CO by OH species, resulting in an improved anti-CO-poisoning capability.