Preparation of highly dispersed carbon supported AuPt nanoparticles via a capping agent-free route for efficient methanol oxidation

Abstract

A facile synthesis of carbon-supported bimetallic AuPt catalysts via a capping agent-free route is reported. The synthesized AuPt nanoparticles are well dispersed with a narrow size distribution ranging from 2.50 to 4.50 nm. Compared with commercial PtRu/C and Pt/C nanoparticles, the present AuPt/C catalysts exhibit distinctly superior activity for the methanol oxidation reaction with notable CO tolerance. Moreover, the composition-dependent catalytic activity of AuPt/C catalysts is observed, which follows the order Au₂Pt₁/C > Au₁Pt₁/C > Au₁Pt₂/C.