Ultrathin porous PdPtNi nanosheets as efficient electrocatalysts for alcohol oxidation reactions

Abstract

The development of ultrathin porous nanostructures contributes a new opportunity to optimize the activity and stability of electrocatalysts, especially for those complicated alcohol oxidation reactions (AORs). Herein, a series of porous PdPtNi nanosheets with adjustable compositions were designed and synthesized to achieve highly active and stable electrocatalysis towards methanol and ethanol oxidation reactions (MOR and EOR) in alkaline electrolyte containing the corresponding alcohol molecules. Benefited from the ultrathin structures, abundant step atoms and optimized electronic structures, the optimized Pd45Pt42Ni13/C exhibits the mass and specific activities of 16.2 A mgPGM−1 and 12.7 mA cm−2, respectively, much higher than those of commercial Pt/C and PdPt-based catalysts. In addition, the Pd45Pt42Ni13/C also displays desirable stability with the highest retained current density after long-term durability tests. We also demonstrate that the porous PdPtNi nanosheets can serve as high-efficiency electrocatalysts towards EOR, confirming the versatility of improved electrocatalytic performance of AORs with multi-electron transfer. By maximizing the number of electrocatalytically active sites and enhancing the intrinsic catalytic activity of single sites, this work provides a class of high-performance Pt-based anodic catalyst for DAFCs via introducing porosity into ultrathin Pt- or Pd-based nanostructures.