Hierarchical Pt-In Nanowires for Efficient Methanol Oxidation Electrocatalysis

Abstract

Direct methanol fuel cells (DMFC) have attracted increasing research interest recently; however, their output performance is severely hindered by the sluggish kinetics of the methanol oxidation reaction (MOR) at the anode. Herein, unique hierarchical Pt-In NWs with uneven surface and abundant high-index facets are developed as efficient MOR electrocatalysts in acidic electrolytes. The developed hierarchical Pt89In11 NWs exhibit high MOR mass activity and specific activity of 1.42 A mgPt−1 and 6.2 mA cm−2, which are 5.2 and 14.4 times those of Pt/C, respectively, outperforming most of the reported MORs. In chronoamperometry tests, the hierarchical Pt89In11 NWs demonstrate a longer half-life time than Pt/C, suggesting the better CO tolerance of Pt89In11 NWs. After stability, the MOR activity can be recovered by cycling. XPS, CV measurement and CO stripping voltammetry measurements demonstrate that the outstanding catalytic activity may be attributed to the facile removal of CO due to the presence of In site-adsorbing hydroxyl species.