Methanol electro-oxidation on Cu@Pt/C core-shell catalyst derived from Cu-MOF

Core-shell structured [email protected]/C catalyst was fabricated by a simple three-step procedure involving hydrothermal synthesis of copper-centered metal organic framework (Cu-MOF), carbon-supported copper nanoparticles (Cu/C) by direct carbonization at 600℃ and partial galvanic replacement of Cu particle layers by Pt in a chloroplatinate solution. The characterization of [email protected]/C catalyst is achieved by XRD (X-ray powder diffraction), SEM (scanning electron microscopy) and voltammetry techniques. [email protected]/C catalyst has shown much larger electrochemical active surface area (ECSA, 74.3 m2.g−1) than commercial Pt/C catalyst (50.4 m2.g−1). Furthermore, nearly four-fold enhancement of activity of [email protected]/C catalyst for methanol oxidation has been observed. Moreover, the charge transfer resistance of methanol oxidation for [email protected]/C catalyst is 22.8 Ω cm-2, lower than that for Pt/C catalyst (73.7 Ω cm-2). Additionally, [email protected]/C catalyst exhibits a superior catalytic stability. The electronic effect modification and large ECSA may be collectively responsible for the enhanced catalytic activity of [email protected]/C over Pt/C.