A porous ternary PtPdCu alloy with a spherical network structure for electrocatalytic methanol oxidation

Abstract

A porous ternary alloy Pt₅PdCu₅ was prepared via hydrothermal reaction in a water–ethylene glycol mixed solvent by using the block copolymer Pluronic P123 as a structure-directing agent. The as-prepared Pt₅PdCu₅ alloy exhibits a unique spherical porous network structure with a high specific surface area of 86.9 m² g⁻¹, which represented one of the highest values reported for Pt-based nanostructures. In contrast, a Pt₅PdCu₅ alloy with a normal sponge-like porous network structure was obtained under the same synthetic conditions in the absence of P123. The electrochemical experiments show that the Pt₅PdCu₅ with a spherical porous network possesses substantially enhanced electrocatalytic activity towards the methanol oxidation reaction (MOR) than its counterpart with a sponge-like porous network.