Synthesis of Core@Shell Cu-Ni@Pt-Cu Nano-Octahedra and Their Improved MOR Activity

Can Li; Xiaobo Chen; Lihua Zhang; Shaohui Yan; Anju Sharma; Bo Zhao; Amar Kumbhar; Guangwen Zhou; Jiye Fang

doi:10.1002/anie.202014144

Synthesis of Core@Shell Cu-Ni@Pt-Cu Nano-Octahedra and Their Improved MOR Activity

Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2021 Mar 29;60(14):7675-7680. doi: 10.1002/anie.202014144. Epub 2021 Feb 25.

Authors

Can Li¹, Xiaobo Chen², Lihua Zhang³, Shaohui Yan^{1

4}, Anju Sharma⁵, Bo Zhao⁶, Amar Kumbhar⁷, Guangwen Zhou², Jiye Fang^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Chemistry, State University of New York at Binghamton, Binghamton, NY, 13902, USA.
² Materials Science and Engineering Program, State University of New York at Binghamton, Binghamton, NY, 13902, USA.
³ Center for Functional Nanomaterials, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY, 11973, USA.
⁴ Present address: College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Taiyuan University of Technology, Taiyuan, Shanxi Province, China.
⁵ Analytical and Diagnostics Lab, State University of New York at Binghamton, Binghamton, NY, 13902, USA.
⁶ College of Arts & Sciences Microscopy, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX, 79409, USA.
⁷ Chapel Hill Analytical and Nanofabrication Laboratory, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA.

PMID: 33438300
DOI: 10.1002/anie.202014144

Abstract

Fabrication of 3d metal-based core@shell nanocatalysts with engineered Pt-surfaces provides an effective approach for improving the catalytic performance. The challenges in such preparation include shape control of the 3d metallic cores and thickness control of the Pt-based shells. Herein, we report a colloidal seed-mediated method to prepare octahedral CuNi@Pt-Cu core@shell nanocrystals using CuNi octahedral cores as the template. By precisely controlling the synthesis conditions including the deposition rate and diffusion rate of the shell-formation through tuning the capping ligand, reaction temperature, and heating rate, uniform Pt-based shells can be achieved with a thickness of <1 nm. The resultant carbon-supported CuNi@Pt-Cu core@shell nano-octahedra showed superior activity in electrochemical methanol oxidation reaction (MOR) compared with the commercial Pt/C catalysts and carbon-supported CuNi@Pt-Cu nano-polyhedron counterparts.

Keywords: CuNi@Pt-Cu; MOR activity; core@shell; nano-octahedra; nanocatalysts.

Abstract

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