Metal-modified PtTe2 nanorods: Surface reconstruction for efficient methanol oxidation electrocatalysis

Co-modified PtTe 2 nanorods with abundant surface defects are prepared as efficient electrocatalysts for MOR. • A facile alkali-etching strategy is proposed for preparing defect-enriched PtTeM nanorods. • The PtTeCo nanorods after surface reconstruction are endowed with rich surface defects. • The modification of Co and surface reconstruction modulate the electronic structure of catalyst. • The ae-PtTeCo nanorods could deliver excellent electrocatalytic MOR performance. Nanomaterials with both one-dimensional structure and surface defect are attractive for electrocatalysis owing to the increased atomic utilization and exposed high-energetic sites. Herein, utilizing the alkali etching to drive structure reconstruction, a class of Co-modified PtTe 2 nanorods (ae-PtTeCo NRs) with surface defects are designed for efficient methanol oxidation reaction (MOR). The optimized ae-Pt 2 Te 6 Co 3 NRs show remarkable mass activity of 1.47 A mg −1 Pt and specific activity of 8.3 mA cm −2 , which are 3.4-fold and 8.1-fold higher than those of commercial Pt/C, respectively. Electrochemical measurements and physical characterizations reveal that the enhanced MOR performance of ae-Pt 3 Te 6 Co 2 NRs is attributed to the abundant surface defects and optimized electronic structure, which effectively promote the oxidation of CO-like intermediates. Meanwhile, such an alkali etching strategy is universal to fabricate other metal-modified PtTe 2 NRs with surface defects, achieving a class of ae-PtTeM NRs (M = Ag, Sn, Cu, Pd, Pb, Ir, In, Cd, Bi, Ni, Ru, Ga).