Underpotential deposition-induced synthesis of composition-tunable Pt-Cu nanocrystals and their catalytic properties

Pt-Cu alloy octahedral nanocrystals (NCs) have been synthesized successfully by using N,N-dimethylformamide as both the solvent and the reducing agent in the presence of cetyltrimethylammonium chloride. Cu underpotential deposition (UPD) is found to play a key role in the formation of the Pt-Cu alloy NCs. The composition in the Pt-Cu alloy can be tuned by adjusting the ratio of metal precursors in solution. However, the Cu content in the Pt-Cu alloy NCs cannot exceed 50%. Due to the fact that Cu precursor cannot be reduced to metallic copper and the Cu content cannot exceed 50%, we achieved the formation of the Pt-Cu alloy by using Cu UPD on the Pt surface. In addition, the catalytic activities of Pt-Cu alloy NCs with different composition were investigated in electrocatalytic oxidation of formic acid. The results reveal that the catalytic performance is strongly dependent on Pt-Cu alloy composition. The sample of Pt(50)Cu(50) exhibits excellent activity in electrocatalytic oxidation of formic acid.