In-situ synthesis of oxygen-enriched carbonaceous layer wrapped with PtNiCo nanoparticles as versatile electrocatalyst.

Developing high-performance Pt-based electrocatalysts via the functionalization of carbon carriers is an enormous challenge for their versatile electrocatalytic applications. Herein, carbonaceous (CA) supporter enriched with oxygen-species and anchored by PtNiCo nanoparticles is in-situ synthesized by a "liquid-phase calcination" (LPC) approach. As a result, PtNiCo/CA obtained in polyethylene glycol presents excellent current density in methanol oxidation reaction (MOR) (435 mAmg−1Pt), higher half-wave potential (0.92 V) in oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), and lower overpotential (377 mV) at the current density of 100 mAcm−1 in oxygen evolution reaction (OER). Furthermore, the prepared electrocatalyst shows excellent durability in MOR, ORR, and OER processes. Characterizations including in-situ infrared spectroscopy indicated that the formed M − O species and oxygen-enriched carbonaceous support is conducive to the protonation and deprotonation behaviors, thus enhancing the activity and stability of Pt active sites. Our synthetic strategy shows a potential approach for preparing high-active and long-durable Pt-based versatile electrocatalysts. • PtNiCo/carbonaceous was fabricated by an in-situ LPC approach. • Carbonaceous supporter was enriched with oxygen-containing species. • PtNiCo alloy nanoparticles were deeply anchored in CA layer. • PtNiCo/CA exhibited excellent performance in MOR, ORR and OER. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]