Hollow PtNi alloy nanospheres with enhanced activity and methanol tolerance for the oxygen reduction reaction

Abstract

The development of active and methanol-tolerant cathode electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) is extremely important for accelerating the commercial viability of direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs). In this work, we present an efficient and template-free route for facile synthesis of cyanide (CN−)-functionalized PtNi hollow nanospheres (PtNi@CN HNSs) with a high alloying degree using a simple cyanogel reduction method at room temperature. The physical and electrocatalytic properties of the PtNi@CN HNSs were investigated by various physical and electrochemical techniques. The PtNi@CN HNSs exhibited significantly enhanced electrocatalytic activity, durability, and particular methanol tolerance for the ORR as compared to commercial Pt black, and thus they are promising cathode electrocatalysts for DMFCs.