1. Self-Supported Defect-Rich Au-Based Nanostructures as Robust Bifunctional Catalysts for the Methanol Oxidation Reaction and Oxygen Reduction Reaction in an Alkaline Medium.
- Author
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Tao, Yuanyuan, Liang, Xiu, Xu, Guanchen, Li, Dongwei, Li, Yong, Zhang, Na, Chen, Yingzhou, Jiang, Xifeng, and Gong, Hongyu
- Subjects
OXIDATION-reduction reaction ,OXIDATION of methanol ,ELECTROCATALYSIS ,DIRECT methanol fuel cells ,CATALYSTS ,OXYGEN reduction ,SURFACE defects - Abstract
Recently, alkaline direct methanol fuel cells have made great progress with the development of alkaline electrocatalysis, and a wide variety of catalysts have been explored for methanol oxidation reaction (MOR)and oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). However, the slow kinetics of the MOR and ORR remain a great challenge. In this paper, self-supported defect-rich AuCu was obtained by a convenient one-pot strategy. Self-supported AuCu presented a branched, porous nanostructure. The nanobranch consisted of several 13 nm skeletons, which connected in the kink of the structure. Different growth directions co-existed at the kink, and the twin boundaries and dislocations as defects were observed. When the Au-based nanostructure functioned as an electrocatalyst, it showed robust MOR and ORR performance. For the MOR, the forward peak current was 2.68 times greater than that of Au/C; for the ORR, the activity was close to that of Pt/C and significantly better than that of Au/C. In addition, it possessed superior electrochemical stability for MOR and ORR. Finally, an in-depth exploration of the impact of surface defects and electrochemical Cu removal on MOR and ORR activity was carried out to explain the MOR and ORR's catalytic performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2021
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