Synergistic effects in cnts-pdau/pt trimetallic nanoparticles with high electrocatalytic activity and stability

Abstract

We present a straightforward physical approach for synthesizing multiwalled carbon nanotubes (CNTs)-PdAu/Pt trimetallic nanoparticles (NPs), which allows predesign and control of the metal compositional ratio by simply adjusting the sputtering targets and conditions. The small-sized CNTs-PdAu/Pt NPs (*3 nm, Pd/Au/Pt ratio of 3:1:2) act as nanocatalysts for the methanol oxidation reaction (MOR), showing excellent performance with electrocatalytic peak current of 4.4 A mg-1Pt and high stability over 7000 s. The electrocatalytic activity and stability of the PdAu/Pt trimetallic NPs are much superior to those of the corresponding Pd/Pt and Au/Pt bimetallic NPs, as well as a commercial Pt/C catalyst. Systematic investi-gation of the microscopic, crystalline, and electronic structure of the PdAu/Pt NPs reveals alloying and charge redistribution in the PdAu/Pt NPs, which are responsible for the promotion of the electrocatalytic performance.