Morphology controllable growth of Pt nanoparticles/nanowires on carbon powders and its application as novel electro-catalyst for methanol oxidation

Abstract

Pt nanowires (PtNWs) have been controllably synthesized on carbon powders by the reduction of H(2)PtCl(6) with HCOOH. By adjusting the pH value of the solution, PtCl(6)(2-) can be controllable reduced into particles or nanowires. The Pt nanowires are single crystals growing along the <111> direction with a diameter of 3 nm and a length of 10 nm. The dispersion of Pt nanowires on the surface of carbon powders can be controlled by changing the loading of Pt. The PtNWs/C is evaluated as the catalyst for methanol oxidation. The PtNWs/C with 20 wt% Pt has a larger electrochemical active surface area and much higher mass activity for methanol oxidation than that of commercial Pt/C catalyst. The PtNWs/C catalyst shows significant improvement in the kinetics for methanol oxidation and mass transfer property due to the single crystal structure of the Pt nanowires. The PtNWs/C catalyst holds promising potential applications in energy converting devices and environmental protection.