Ultralong PtPd Alloyed Nanowires Anchored on Graphene for Efficient Methanol Oxidation Reaction

Graphical A facile solvothermal method is presented to synthesize ultralong PtPd alloyed nanowires anchored on graphene as highly effective MOR catalysts. The rational synthesis of Pt-based alloyed nanowires still remains a great challenge because of the different reduction potentials between Pt and another metal and the intrinsic feature of isotropic growth in face-centered cubic (fcc) structured Pt. In this work, PtPd alloyed nanowires with ultrahigh aspect ratio anchored on graphene (PtPd NWs/graphene) were synthesized by a facile solvothermal method without the use of any templates or surfactants. Due to the integration of ultralong PtPd nanowires and stable graphene support, PtPd NWs/graphene exhibited outstanding electrochemical activity toward methanol oxidation reaction (MOR) in comparison with pure Pt NWs/graphene and commercial Pt/C catalysts. Meanwhile, PtPd NWs/graphene had a much higher current density than Pt NWs/graphene and commercial Pt/C catalysts at a constant potential for 7200s in alkaline methanol solution. Moreover, after 1000 cycles of durability testing, PtPd NWs/graphene retained 89.2% of its initial mass activity, much superior to the 63.7% retained for commercial Pt/C.