Uncovering the electrocatalytic potential of two-dimensional Pt–Ni bimetallic aerogels

Abstract

Metal aerogels have established themselves as promising materials for various applications across diverse fields, from sensing to soft neural implants. Since they emerged as a distinct class of materials in 2009, catalysis has been one of their most common application areas. However, even after a decade of research on metal aerogels for catalytic purposes, there remains room for improvement. The rising costs associated with production, driven by expensive drying techniques and costly metal precursors, have motivated the scientific community to explore alternative approaches and materials. This work investigates a film-like 2D Pt–Ni aerogel as a potential alternative for the methanol oxidation reaction (MOR). This aerogel was fabricated using a recently reported phase-boundary gelation, which requires a low quantity of metal precursors and avoids the need for special drying techniques. Comparative studies of the 2D and 3D aerogels confirm their structural integrity and the characteristic high porosity. The 2D Pt–Ni aerogel demonstrates a reproducibly high electrochemically active surface area of approximately 50.6 m² g⁻¹ and an excellent mass activity for MOR of around 1.8 A mg⁻¹, surpassing the 3D Pt–Ni aerogel.