Void-confinement effects of porous hollow nanostructures boost selectivity and durability of oxygen reduction reaction

Pt-based electrocatalysts are the most efficient materials for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) due to the unfilled d orbitals while suffering from poor selectivity and durability during the 4e - pathway. Herein, we reported a high-performance electrocatalyst of porous hollow carbon nanosphere encapsulated inside with PtCo alloy nanorods (PtCo@PHCNS). Specifically, the PtCo alloy nanorods with a diameter of 6 nm show a nanorod structure, and the hollow carbon nanospheres with a diameter of 400 nm and a wall thickness of 65 nm show a porous structure. Strikingly, the electrochemistry shows that PtCo@PHCNS displays the ORR onset potential ( E onset ) and the half-wave potential ( E 1/2 ) are 0.975 V vs. RHE and 0.885 V vs. RHE under alkaline conditions, respectively. Specifically, PtCo@PHCNS shows enhanced ORR selectivity and durability that originate from the void-confinement effects of porous hollow carbon nanosphere. The strategy describes novel protection with porous carbon materials and obtains a unique electrocatalysis PtCo@PHCNS, providing a promising way for designing and synthesizing high-performance electrocatalysts.