Pt-based alloys denote promising catalysts for methanol oxidation reaction (MOR) and ethanol oxidation reaction (EOR), due to their enhanced activity towards alcohol-oxidation reactions and reduced cost as compared with Pt alone. Among all of these binary systems, PtSn has been reported to exhibit superior methanol/ethanol oxidation activity. Previous work has suggested that Pt-based catalysts, possessing an ultrathin one-dimensional (1D) structure, can dramatically promote and enhance both cathodic and anodic reactions with respect to their zero-dimensional (0D) counterparts. Herein, a novel set of ultrathin binary Pt-Sn 1D nanowire (NW) catalysts with rationally controlled chemical compositions has been synthesized using a facile, room-temperature, wet-solution-based method. Results have revealed that this synthetic protocol could successfully generate PtSn alloys with rationally tunable chemical compositions (i.e. Pt9Sn1, Pt8Sn2, and Pt7Sn3). TEM and higher magnification TEM (HRTEM) data have corroborated the ultrathin one-dimensional morphological nature of as-synthesized Pt-Sn nanowires. XRD, XPS, as well as EDX collectively confirmed the chemical composition and corresponding crystallinity of the nanowires. Results suggest the existence of both tin and tin oxides which were reported to promote the efficiency of alcohol oxidation reactions. Moreover, the effect of varying Sn content within these alloyed samples with respect to the electro-oxidation reaction of methanol and ethanol were investigated using cyclic voltammetry (CV) in acidic media. Within this series, we find that the optimized chemical composition for both the methanol oxidation reaction (MOR) and the ethanol oxidation reaction (EOR) is Pt7Sn3.

Tailoring chemical composition to achieve enhanced methanol oxidation reaction and ethanol oxidation reaction performance in ultrathin PtxSn1-x alloy systems

256th National Meeting (2018)

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