Rational design of porous binary Pt-based nanodendrites as efficient catalysts for direct glucose fuel cells over a wide pH range

Abstract

The development of porous bi-metallic Pt-based nanocrystals (NCs) as efficient catalysts for the glucose oxidation reaction (GOR) over a wide pH range is still a grand challenge. Triggered by this challenge, we report the controlled synthesis of porous binary PtPd, PtCu, AuPt, and PtNi NCs with open dendritic frames as efficient catalysts for GOR. This was achieved by one-step reduction of their precursors in aqueous solutions of polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) under ultrasonic treatment at room temperature. Intriguingly, the porous AuPt and PtPd NCs exhibited the utmost enhancement in GOR activity relative to PtCu, PtNi, and commercial Pt/C catalysts under different pH conditions, which is ascribed to their porous structure and composition. Furthermore, the composition and synergetic effects of the binary metals plausibly generate an activity relationship that tune their catalytic activity and stability in different electrolytes.