Vesicular AuPd alloy nanowires for enhanced electrocatalytic activity

Abstract

Developing excellent fuel cells requires complex design and precise tuning of catalyst structure and composition. This paper presents a simple approach to fabricate AuPd vesicular nanowires (VNWs) with controlled composition. The method uses homogeneous Te nanowires (NWs) as templates and reducing agents in the replacement reaction and NaClO as etching agent. Bimetallic synergism and rich catalytic sites in the vesicular nanowires give AuPd catalysts the excellent electrocatalytic performance for methanol oxidation. In particular, the Au28Pd71 VNWs showed the highest electrocatalytic activity for methanol oxidation, and its highest mass current density was1.278 A mg−1, which was 1.22 and 1.65 times that of Pt VNWs and commercial Pt/C, separately. Furthermore, Au28Pd71 VNWs exhibited good stability after 2000 cycles, maintaining an initial mass current density of 85.2%. As the optimal component ratio, Au28Pd71 exhibited superior electrocatalytic performance for methanol oxidation. This discovery demonstrated a new approach for the programming and fabrication of senior methanol fuel cells electrocatalysts.