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Ultrathin AgPt alloy nanowires as a high-performance electrocatalyst for formic acid oxidation

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Abstract

To address the insufficient electrocatalytic activity and stability of formic acid oxidation reaction (FAOR) electrocatalysts, as well as their high cost, we herein demonstrate the facile hydrothermal synthesis of ultrathin AgPt alloy nanowires using amine-terminated poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM-NH2) as a structure-directing agent. The initial generation of AgCl precipitates, subsequent formation of AgPt nanoparticles, and their oriented attachment account for the formation of ultrathin AgPt alloy nanowires. Benefiting from their unique 1D anisotropy and alloyed composition, the prepared ultrathin AgPt nanowires exhibit a superior electrocatalytic activity and better CO tolerance for the FAOR, reaching a 1.6-fold and 3.7-fold higher specific current density than AgPt nanoparticles and a commercial Pt black catalyst, respectively. Additionally, the ultrathin AgPt alloy nanowires manifest a superior electrochemical stability and structural robustness during electrocatalysis, making them a promising FAOR electrocatalyst. This work not only provides a reliable strategy for the synthesis of noble metal-based ultrathin nanowires, but also opens an avenue towards the rational design of efficient electrocatalysts for fuel cell systems.

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Acknowledgements

This work was financially supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 21503111, 21576139 and 21376122) and Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions of China (No. 16KJB150020). The authors also thank National and Local Joint Engineering Research Center of Biomedical Functional Materials and a project sponsored by the Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions.

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  1. Xian Jiang and Gengtao Fu contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Jiangsu Key Laboratory of New Power Batteries, Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center of Biomedical Functional Materials, School of Chemistry and Materials Science, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing, 210023, China

    Xian Jiang, Gengtao Fu, Xia Wu, Yang Liu, Dongmei Sun, Lin Xu & Yawen Tang

  2. Key Laboratory for Photonic and Electronic Bandgap Materials, Ministry of Education, School of Physics and Electronic Engineering, Harbin Normal University, Harbin, 150025, China

    Mingyi Zhang

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  1. Xian Jiang
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  4. Yang Liu
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Correspondence to Lin Xu or Yawen Tang.

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Jiang, X., Fu, G., Wu, X. et al. Ultrathin AgPt alloy nanowires as a high-performance electrocatalyst for formic acid oxidation. Nano Res. 11, 499–510 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-017-1658-4

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