Facile large-scale synthesis of Au–Pt alloyed nanowire networks as efficient electrocatalysts for methanol oxidation and oxygen reduction reactions

In this work, bimetallic Au–Pt alloyed nanowire networks (AuPt NNs) were facilely synthesized by a simple and rapid one-pot wet-chemical method on a large-scale, using N-methylimidazole as a structure-directing agent and a weak stabilizing agent. The surface of AuPt NNs was clean owing to the easy removal of the adsorbed N-methylimidazole. The control experiments demonstrated that the morphologies of AuPt NNs were strongly correlated with the amount of N-methylimidazole and reaction temperature. The formation mechanism included the four-stage growth processes: rapid nucleation, selective adsorption, π–π induced assembly, and oriented attachment growth. The as-synthesized AuPt NNs exhibited enhanced electrocatalytic activity and improved stability for methanol oxidation reaction (MOR) and oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) as compared to commercial Pt black and individual Pt nanoparticles.