Ordered Intermetallic Pt3Co Nanowires as Multifunctional Electrocatalysts

Abstract

Pt-based intermetallic compounds have shown promise as efficient electrocatalysts for fuel cells and water electrolyzers due to their enhanced activity and durability compared to alloy structures. The synthesis of intermetallic structures requires a high temperature annealing step, which, however, often results in the agglomeration of particles with irregular distribution. Therefore, size and shape controlled intermetallic structure is still challenging. In this work, disordered Pt3Co alloy nanowires (D-PtCo NWs) and ordered intermetallic Pt3Co nanowires (O-PtCo NWs) were prepared using ordered mesoporous silica (OMS) as the templates which dictate the nanowire size and morphology and prevents the agglomeration during the high temperature annealing. Importantly, O-PtCo NWs exhibited enhanced activity and durability for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), compared to the D-PtCo NWs and commercial Pt/C catalysts. Furthemore, the synthesis could be extended to intermetallic Pt3Co nanonetworks.