Abstract
Finding out robust active and sustainable catalyst towards alcohol electro-oxidation reaction is major challenges for large-scale commercialization of direct alcohol fuel cells. Herein, a robust Pt nanowires (NWs)/Ti0.7W0.3O2 electrocatalyst, as the coherency of using non-carbon catalyst support and controlling the morphology and structure of the Pt nanocatalyst, was fabricated via an effortless chemical reduction reaction approach at room temperature without using surfactant/stabilizers or template to assemble an anodic electrocatalyst towards methanol electro-oxidation reaction (MOR) and ethanol electro-oxidation reaction (EOR). These observational results demonstrated that the Pt NWs/Ti0.7W0.3O2 electrocatalyst is an intriguing anodic electrocatalyst, which can alter the state-of-the-art Pt NPs/C catalyst. Compared with the conventional Pt NPs/C electrocatalyst, the Pt NWs/Ti0.7W0.3O2 electrocatalyst exhibited the lower onset potential (~0.1 V for MOR and ~0.2 for EOR), higher mass activity (~355.29 mA/mgPt for MOR and ~325.01 mA/mgPt for EOR) and much greater durability. The outperformance of the Pt NWs/Ti0.7W0.3O2 electrocatalyst is ascribable to the merits of the anisotropic one-dimensional Pt nanostructure and the mesoporous Ti0.7W0.3O2 support along with the synergistic effects between the Ti0.7W0.3O2 support and the Pt nanocatalyst. Furthermore, this approach may provide a promising catalytic platform for fuel cell technology and a variety of applications.
Highlights
At this juncture, the Pt nanoparticles structures were commonly utilized in fuel cell systems[11], the zero-dimensional possess some restrictions; namely, a high number of low coordination atoms and surface defects[11,12] that directly affect their electrocatalytic activity and durability
Pt nuclei are deposited on the surface of Ti0.7W0.3O2 support during the reduction of H2PtCl6 by HCOOH to form Pt nuclei that act as sites for further nucleation via the continual absorption and reduction of Pt (IV) ions resulting in the formation of clustered particles and form the Pt NWs on the surface of Ti0.7W0.3O2 supports under the very low reduction rate and long-time reaction (72 hours) at room temperature
We introduce the robust Pt NWs/Ti0.7W0.3O2 electrocatalyst, which was prepared via a simple chemical reduction route at room temperature without utilizing surfactant/stabilizers or template
Summary
The Pt nanoparticles (zero-dimensional) structures were commonly utilized in fuel cell systems[11], the zero-dimensional possess some restrictions; namely, a high number of low coordination atoms and surface defects[11,12] that directly affect their electrocatalytic activity and durability. Compared with the zero-dimensional structures, the one-dimensional structure like nanowires possessed many advantages; namely, the high surface-area-to-volume ratio, low number of surface defects, smooth single-crystalline and ability to prevent the www.nature.com/scientificreports/. We demonstrated the Pt NWs/Ti0.7W0.3O2 catalyst toward methanol electro-oxidation and ethanol electro-oxidation which was successfully fabricated via the simple chemical reduction route at room temperature, only using formic acid (HCOOH) as reducing agents. These observational results indicated that the Pt NWs/Ti0.7W0.3O2 is promising anodic catalysts for methanol electro-oxidation reaction (MOR) and ethanol electro-oxidation reaction (EOR), which can alter the conventional Pt NPs/C electrocatalysts. This research can provide robust catalysts platforms for fuel cell technologies and other applications such as solar cells, water splitting
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