Solvothermal synthesis of PtPb nanoparticles with efficient alcohol oxidation performance

Abstract

Precious metal nanomaterials have demonstrated significant advantages in the field of alcohol electro-catalytic oxidation. In this study, the inexpensive main group metals lead (Pb) and platinum (Pt) have been innovatively selected to construct an alloy catalyst. By employing the solvent-thermal method, PtPb nanoparticles with a well-defined crystalline structure were successfully synthesized, exhibiting excellent performance. The electrochemical test data revealed that the catalyst achieved mass activities of 15 550 mA mg⁻¹ in the ethylene glycol oxidation reaction and 5948 mA mg⁻¹ in the ethanol oxidation reaction, surpassing those of commercial Pt/C catalysts. Notably, this alloying strategy, based on main group metals, effectively addresses the performance limitations of the conventional transition metal doping system. Furthermore, it introduces a novel concept for material system construction, facilitating the design of cost-effective alcohol fuel cell catalysts. This approach is particularly valuable from a theoretical perspective, as it investigates the synergistic catalytic mechanism between main group metals and precious metals.