PtCo bimetallic nanoparticles encapsulated in N-doped carbon nanorod arrays for efficient electrocatalysis. (February 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Ren, Weina; Zang, Wenjie; Zhang, Haifeng; Bian, Jialin; Chen, Zuofeng; Guan, Cao; Cheng, Chuanwei
• Is Part Of: Carbon. Volume 142(2019)
• Page Start: 206
• Page End: 216
• Publication Date: 2019-02
• Subjects: Carbon -- Periodicals; Carbone -- Périodiques; Koolstof; Toepassingen; Electronic journals; 546.681
• DOI: 10.1016/j.carbon.2018.10.054
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0008-6223

Abstract

Abstract: Highly-active and durable electrocatalysts are highly important for electrochemical energy conversion devices. Herein, we report the design and fabrication of PtCo bimetallic nanoparticles encapsulated in N-doped carbon nanorod arrays (PtCo@NC) on carbon cloth as an integrated binder-free catalyst for both methanol oxidation reaction (MOR) and hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). The unique structural advantage and bimetallic synergetic effect of such composite catalyst provide a high specific surface area and abundant electrochemical active sites for the electrocatalysis process. As a result, the as-obtained PtCo@NC with optimized Pt loading exhibit significantly improved methanol electro-oxidation performance in terms of high areal activity of 2.17 mA cm −2, superior CO tolerance and reliable stability in contrast to that of commercial Pt/C catalysts. In addition, the PtCo@NC catalyst also shows promising electrocatalytic activity with small onset potential of 12 mV vs RHE, low Tafel slope of 48 mV dec −1 as well as excellent long-term stability for HER. Graphical abstract: Image 1