PtCuFe alloy nanochains: Synthesis and composition-performance relationship in methanol oxidation and hydrogen evolution reactions

[Display omitted] •PtCuFe nanochains (NCs) are synthesized by a convenient solvothermal method.•Cu2+ plays an important role in the formation of 1D NCs.•The composition-performance relationship of PtCuxFey NCs is revealed.•The PtCuFe NCs show excellent activity and durability toward MOR and HER. The...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of colloid and interface science 2022-12, Vol.628, p.153-161
Main Authors: Fan, Fangfang, Chen, Du-Hong, Yang, Linjuan, Qi, Jiuhui, Fan, Youjun, Wang, Yixuan, Chen, Wei
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Electrocatalysis
Hydrogen evolution reaction
Methanol oxidation reaction
Nanochain
PtCuFe alloy
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Summary:[Display omitted] •PtCuFe nanochains (NCs) are synthesized by a convenient solvothermal method.•Cu2+ plays an important role in the formation of 1D NCs.•The composition-performance relationship of PtCuxFey NCs is revealed.•The PtCuFe NCs show excellent activity and durability toward MOR and HER. The controllable synthesis of 1-dimensional (1D) multi-metal Pt-based alloys, with enhanced electro-chemical properties remains a challenge, despite the wide application of Pt-based catalysts in fuel cells and in the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Herein, we fabricate PtCuFe alloy nanochains (NCs) that have a tunable composition by flexibly adjusting the molar ratios of the metal precursors. It was found that Cu2+ is key in the formation of 1D NCs, as confirmed by transmission electron microscopy characterizations. In addition, the alloyed Fe can further increase the content of the metallic state of Cu in the PtCuFe NCs. The as-prepared PtCuFe NCs exhibited higher catalytic activity and stability than those of the Pt nanoparticles (NPs), PtFe NPs, and PtCu NCs, for the methanol oxidation reaction (MOR) and HER. Additionally, the composition-performance relationship of PtCuxFey NCs toward the MOR and HER were investigated. The hybrid density functional theory calculation and analysis showed that the 1D PtCuFe NCs have a lower lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) than those of the 2- and 3-dimensional PtCuFe, verifying that the 1D PtCuFe NCs exhibit the highest activity for the MOR. This work has established a new method for the controllable synthesis of multi-metal Pt-based NCs/alloy catalysts and their subsequent applications in other electro-catalytic reactions.
ISSN:0021-9797
1095-7103
DOI:10.1016/j.jcis.2022.08.032