Hollow Echinus-like PdCuCo Alloy for Superior Efficient Catalysis of Ethanol

Large-scale preparation of hollow echinus-like PdCuCo alloy nanostructures (HENSs) with a high surface area-to-volume ratio, rich active sites, and relatively efficient catalytic activity has attracted considerable research interest. Herein, we present an economic and facile approach to synthesize HENSs by galvanic exchange reactions using Co nanospheres as sacrificial templates. Moreover, the catalytic activity could be adjusted via changing the composition of the catalyst. The composition, morphology, and crystal structure of the as-obtained nanomaterials are characterized by various techniques, such as inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry, transmission electron microscopy, and X-ray diffraction. Electrochemical catalytic measurement results prove that the Pd₇₅Cu₈Co₃ catalyst obtained under optimal preparation conditions exhibits 10-fold higher activity for ethanol oxidation in comparison with the commercially available 20% Pd/C catalyst. The eminent performance of the Pd₇₅Cu₈Co₃ electrochemical catalyst could be ascribed to the peculiar echinus-like nanostructures.