Stable acidic ethanol electrolysis via in-situ formation of Pt/Ni(III) catalytic interfaces for hydrogen and chemicals co-production

The electrochemical ethanol oxidation reaction (EOR) in acid offers a promising route for co-producing hydrogen and value-added chemicals, but suffers from severe Pt catalyst poisoning and poor stability. Herein, we report the synthesis of ultrathin PtNi nanowires (NWs) with abundant step defects for efficient and stable EOR. The PtNi NWs/C catalyst exhibits high mass activity (1.50 A mg Pt −1 @0.7 V vs. RHE), Faradaic efficiency (80% to acetic acid), and stability compared to the Pt NWs/C and Pt NPs/C counterparts. It has been demonstrated that the ultrathin NW structure endowed the PtNi NWs/C with high electrochemical active surface area and abundant step sites, while the incorporation of Ni facilitates the removal of poisoning CO and accelerates the EOR kinetics on Pt via the in-situ formation of Ni(III), leading to the superior performance. A practical electrolyzer using the PtNi NW as the anodic catalyst achieves 132 mA cm −2  at 0.8 V and sustains operation for 100 h.