Effective and selective ethylene glycol electrooxidation with compositionally controlled Pt–Au bimetallic electrocatalysts

Abstract

Controlling surface Pt and Au concentrations on PtAu nanoparticles via magnetron sputtering enables enhanced EGOR activity and glycolate selectivity. This improvement originates from structural modifications of Pt induced by adjacent Au atoms, which produces electronic and strain effects. These findings highlight surface composition engineering as a promising strategy for designing next-generation nanoparticle electrocatalysts with tailored performance.