Facile synthesis of porous PtBiTe nanoplates with high C 1 pathway selectivity and robust resistance to CO poisoning for ethanol oxidation reaction

Abstract

Direct ethanol fuel cells (DEFCs) have received widespread attention due to their simple construction, low operating temperature, high conversion efficiency, high energy density, and being free of pollution. The sluggish kinetics, low C 1 pathway selectivity, and poor resistance to CO poisoning, however, remain great challenges for their development. In this work, porous PtBiTe nanoplates (PtBiTe NPs) with an average lateral size of 309.5 nm and an average thickness of 14.6 nm were facilely synthesized in aqueous solution at room temperature by using Bi 2 Te 3 nanoplate templates. The twodimensional porous structure exposes a large number of Pt active sites and has excellent structural stability. The introduction of Bi and Te modifies the electronic structure of Pt, weakens the energy barrier of the potential-determining step of the C 1 pathway, reduces the energy barrier of CO oxidation, and decreases the number of oxidized Pt atoms. PtBiTe NPs show excellent activity and stability, high C 1 pathway selectivity, and robust resistance to CO poisoning toward ethanol oxidation reaction in alkaline electrolyte, much superior to the commercial Pt/C catalysts.