Fabrication of cubic PtCu nanocages and their enhanced electrocatalytic activity towards hydrogen peroxide

Cubic PtCu nanocages (NCs) were successfully synthesized through a redox reaction using cuprous oxide (Cu2O) as a sacrificial template and reducing agent. The porous PtCu NCs were composed of amounts of PtCu nanograins with an average particle size of 2.9 nm. The electrocatalytic performance of the PtCu NC electrode towards H2O2 was studied by cyclic voltammetry (CV) and chronoamperometry. The prepared PtCu NC electrode exhibited excellent electrocatalytic activity towards H2O2, with a wide liner range from 5 μM to 22.25 mM, a relatively high sensitivity of 295.3 μA mM-1 cm-2, and a low detection limit of 5 μM (S/N = 3). The hollow porous nanostructure has potential applications in biosensors.