Combining the Advantages of Hollow and One-Dimensional Structures: Balanced Activity and Stability toward Methanol Oxidation Based on the Interface of PtCo Nanochains

Active and durable electrocatalysts for methanol oxidation reaction (MOR) are of great importance to the practical application of direct methanol fuel cell technology. Although tremendous efforts have been devoted to optimize the electrocatalysts, these electrocatalysts still fall far short of expectation and suffer from rapid activity loss. Herein, we report a new strategy for designing PtCo nanochains as a methanol oxidation electrocatalyst with high activity and excellent stability. The obtained PtCo nanochains consist of a string of hollow spheres that forms a one-dimensional chain structure. We find that having a defect-rich interface between adjacent hollow spheres is responsible for high catalytic performance and stability. With this special morphology, the PtCo nanochains exhibit exceptional activity (3.73 A·mg–1Pt) and stability (90.8% of initial current retained after 1500 cycles) for methanol oxidation. These findings will provide a new insight in designing and synthesizing high-performance electrocatalysts.