Synthesis of PtCu Rhombic Dodecahedral Nanoframes Decorated with Six Nanobranches for Efficient Methanol Electrooxidation

Engineering the structure of metal nanocrystals is critical to optimize their catalytic performance. In recent years, nanoframes have emerged as potential catalysts owing to their high atomic utilization, abundant catalytically active sites, and three-dimensional accessible surfaces. Herein, PtCu rhombic dodecahedral nanoframes (RDFs) were synthesized via a facile one-pot solvothermal method by using hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide as the structure-directing and stabilizing agent. Notably, the prepared PtCu RDFs each contain six nanobranches selectively protruding from their six ⟨100⟩ vertices. The nanobranches possess various high-index facets, which may act as highly active sites for electrochemical catalysis. Electrocatalytic measurements demonstrate that the prepared PtCu RDFs have superior catalytic activity and stability relative to the Pt/C catalyst for the methanol oxidation reaction (MOR). We hope that this synthetic approach will introduce new insights into the construction of Pt-based nanostructures for the MOR or other catalytic applications.