Morphological and Electronic Modulation in 3D B-Doped PtCe Alloyed Nanocrystals for Enhanced Electrooxidation to Alcohol Molecules

Herein, we synthesized new 3D flower-like boron doped PtCe nanoalloys formed by nanosheets with ultra-thin thickness (B-PtCe NSs) using a convenient one-pot method without any surfactants. The self-supporting 3D architecture overcomes the commonly closely packed and overlapping problems of conventional 2D nanosheets. The ultrathin feature of the petals provides large active areas, facilitating mass and electron transfer rates. Specifically, the synergistic effect between different components effectively modifies the electronic structures and upshifts the d -band center. The B-PtCe NSs therefore exhibited superior electrocatalytic performance to methanol and ethanol oxidation reactions (MOR/EOR). Specifically, the mass/specific activities of B-PtCe NSs were 2.75 ± 0.050 A·mg Pt −1 /27.58 ± 0.50 A·m −2 , which are 3.85/2.12 times higher than those of commercial Pt/C catalysts (0.71 ± 0.011 A·mg Pt −1 /12.96 ± 0.20 A·m −2 ) toward MOR, respectively. The ultrathin B-PtCe NSs also exhibited superior mass/specific activity of 2.12 ± 0.04 A·mg Pt −1 /21.11 ± 0.40 A·m −2 to EOR. Furthermore, the B-PtCe NSs exhibit higher electrocatalytic stability owing to their special morphological feature and promoted anti-CO properties. More importantly, the B-PtCe also demonstrates superior mass activities of 0.159, 0.851, 2.23, and 2.71 A·mg Pt −1 to the electrooxidation reactions of glucose, isopropanol, glycerol, and ethylene glycol. We unraveled the improved mechanism though density functional theory calculations.