Morphosynthesis of nanoporous pseudo Pd@Pt bimetallic particles with controlled electrocatalytic activity

Abstract

Nanoporous pseudo Pd@Pt bimetallic particles were prepared using a facile one-step synthetic approach. The morphologies of the resultant particles are changed from spheres to cubes by increasing the molar ratio of the Pd/Pt precursor solution. Compared to commercially available Pt black and Pt/C-20%, the nanoporous pseudo Pd@Pt bimetallic particles were up to 7 times and 2.1 times more active for the methanol oxidation reaction on the basis of equivalent Pt, respectively. This excellent electrocatalytic activity is caused by a combination of the high surface area of the nanoporous architecture in addition to the bimetallic synergetic effect. Through this work, we demonstrate a general approach for the creation of nanoporous bimetallic Pt-based particles with controlled shape, composition and size for enhanced catalytic activity.