Spiny-porous platinum nanotubes with enhanced electrocatalytic activity for methanol oxidation

Abstract

A facile and general approach is developed to synthesize self-supported spiny-porous Pt nanotubes (SP-PtNTs). The multi-dimensional structure with enriched edge and corner atoms showed 4.3 and 1.53 times higher mass electrocatalytic activity than porous Pt nanotubes (P-PtNTs) and commercial Pt/C (20% Pt), which increased the Pt utilization and decreased the dosage of Pt and the cost of Pt-based catalysts. SP-PtNTs had better stability and dispersibility than P-PtNTs and commercial Pt/C (20% Pt) in the water phase. The brief mechanism for the synthesis of SP-PtNTs could also be extended to synthesize other noble metals, as well as their bimetallic combinations, with excellent catalysis and electrocatalysis. Furthermore, the spiny structure provided extra active sites that might facilitate the application of Pt for use in enzyme-like catalysis or nano-electronic applications.