Bifunctional PtCu electrocatalysts for the N2 reduction reaction under ambient conditions and methanol oxidation. Issue 6 (24th February 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Fang, Caihong; Hu, Jinwu; Jiang, Xiaomin; Cui, Zhiqing; Xu, Xiaoxiao; Bi, Ting
• Is Part Of: Inorganic chemistry frontiers. Volume 7:Issue 6(2020)
• Page Start: 1411
• Page End: 1419
• Publication Date: 2020-02-24
• Subjects: Chemistry, Inorganic -- Periodicals; 546.05
• DOI: 10.1039/d0qi00035c
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2052-1553

Abstract

Abstract : PtCu nanoalloys were employed as bifunctional electrocatalysts in both the N2 reduction and methanol oxidation, in which the electrocatalytic activity and stability is composition dependent and highly improved compared to their counterpart. Abstract : In our work, we demonstrated network PtCu nanocrystals, in which the tuneable composition, clean surface, and ultrasmall size (diameter < 5 nm) endow them with excellent electrocatalytic performances in both N2 reduction reaction under ambient conditions and methanol oxidation. A detailed investigation suggests that their electrocatalytic activity is highly composition dependent. We confirmed the production of NH3 from N2 through a systematic study. The optimum Pt6 Cu nanoalloys exhibit 2.3-fold and 20.6-fold increase in reduction activity toward N2 compared with Pt and Cu nanocrystals. Their faradaic efficiency value was also highly improved. Moreover, these bifunctional Pt6 Cu nanostructures also show excellent catalytic properties during methanol electrooxidation. The specific activity toward methanol oxidation reaches up to 21.3 mA cm −2, which is 3.6 times that of commercial Pt/C catalysts. This work thus provides a promising approach to design the alloy composition for bi- or multi-functional applications.