Abstract Designing an active and reliable electrocatalyst is the urgent need for the desirable improvement in direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs). In recent time, binary metal oxides have shown much attention as possible electrocatalysts for the future DMFCs. Herein, we have reported direct growth of 3D-CuCo2O4 on Nickel foam (NF) by hydrothermal route for electrochemical methanol oxidation. The electrochemical performance was examined by cyclic voltammetry (CV), chronoamperommetry (CA) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) techniques. Electrochemical analysis of 3D-CuCo2O4 exhibits high current density of 112 A g−1 at scan rate of 10 mV s−1 and retains 91% of initial current density after 1000 C V cycles. The high electrocatalytic activity of mesoporous 3D-CuCo2O4 is mainly ascribed to the synergetic effect of bimetallic element (Cu and Co), high surface area and enhanced charge-transfer because of direct growth of catalyst on NF. The present synthesis strategy and use of spinel oxides can offer promising feature for the development of non-precious catalysts for DMFCs.

中文翻译：

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用于甲醇电氧化的具有高活性和稳定性的无粘合剂介孔 3D-CuCo2O4 电催化剂的生长

摘要 设计一种活性可靠的电催化剂是对直接甲醇燃料电池 (DMFC) 进行理想改进的迫切需要。近年来，二元金属氧化物作为未来 DMFC 的可能电催化剂受到了广泛关注。在此，我们报道了通过水热途径在泡沫镍 (NF) 上直接生长 3D-CuCo2O4 以进行电化学甲醇氧化。通过循环伏安法 (CV)、计时电流法 (CA) 和电化学阻抗谱 (EIS) 技术检查电化学性能。3D-CuCo2O4 的电化学分析在 10 mV s-1 的扫描速率下显示出 112 A g-1 的高电流密度，并在 1000 C V 循环后保持初始电流密度的 91%。介孔 3D-CuCo2O4 的高电催化活性主要归因于双金属元素（Cu 和 Co）的协同效应、高表面积和由于催化剂在 NF 上直接生长而增强的电荷转移。目前的合成策略和尖晶石氧化物的使用可以为开发用于 DMFC 的非贵重催化剂提供有希望的特征。