Facile Hydrothermal Synthesis of Highly Efficient and Durable Ternary PtPdCu Electrocatalysts for the Methanol Oxidation Reaction

Abstract

Precious metal Pt‐based electrocatalysts have been widely used in the methanol catalytic oxidation anodes in direct methanol fuel cells. However, decreasing their cost and improving their efficiency and durability have still been challenging. Herein, ternary PtPdCu nanocatalysts are synthesized through a facile one‐step hydrothermal synthesis method. When KI is present with a suitable amount in the synthesis, PtPdCu nanospheres with surface‐embedded CuI clusters (CuI/PtPdCu) are fabricated. However, without KI, the prepared PtPdCu catalysts show a distinct hollow structure (h‐PtPtCu). CuI/PtPdCu displays the highest specific activity with enhancement 4 times higher than commercial Pt/C for the methanol oxidation reaction in an alkaline medium. The superior activity can be attributed to two aspects: 1) the electronic effect originating from the highly alloyed PtPdCu; 2) the synergetic effect resulting from surface inlaid CuI clusters, which can promote the CO intermediate removal. Furthermore, because of the stable Pt–Pd‐rich surface and its special linked hollow structure, the h‐PtPtCu catalyst exhibits good durability with only a 3.6% decay in the specific activity.