Facile synthesis of trimetallic AuPtPd alloy nanowires and their catalysis for ethanol electrooxidation

Abstract

Using ultrathin, high aspect ratio Te nanowires as a template, we demonstrated a facile method to synthesize high-quality AuPtPd trimetallic alloy nanowires in aqueous solution at room temperature within one hour. More importantly, the obtained AuPtPd trimetallic alloy nanowires exhibited significantly enhanced activity towards ethanol electrooxidation in alkaline medium, demonstrating the potential of applying these Pd-based alloy nanowires as effective electrocatalysts for direct alcohol fuel cells. Considering the important role of one-dimensional trimetallic alloy nanostructures in catalytic systems, the present AuPtPd alloy nanowires may also find applications in other fields, such as fuel cells (formic acid, methanol oxidation and oxygen reduction reaction) and electrochemical biosensors.