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Updated: Feb 2, 2026

Atomically Defined Templates for Epitaxial Growth of Complex Oxide Thin Films
Published on: December 4, 2014
Atomic Platinum Skin under Synergy of Cobalt for Enhanced Methanol Oxidation Electrocatalysis
Lei Huang1, Zhen Wang1, Wenhao Gong1
1Collaborative Innovation Center of Sustainable Energy Materials, Guangxi Key Laboratory of Electrochemical Energy Materials, State Key Laboratory of Processing for Non-ferrous Metal and Featured Materials , Guangxi University , Nanning 530004 , P. R. China.
Abstract:
To reduce the cost of the catalyst and the consumption of Pt, a facile electrochemical displacement preparation method is proposed, and the nanostructures can be easily controlled by a strong reducing agent and a surfactant. Two distinct Pt-Co spheres, Pt-Co core-shell spheres (CSSs), and Pt-Co hollow alloy spheres (HASs) were successfully synthesized by changing the introduction of N2. Interestingly, Pt-Co CSSs possess a Pt-rich shell with 7 atomic layer thickness, which promotes the efficient utilization of Pt atoms. Pt-Co HASs have a highly open structure and a single alloy phase. For the methanol oxidation reaction, Pt-Co CSSs and Pt-Co HASs exhibit enhanced catalytic performances. Compared with the commercial Pt/C catalyst, the mass activity of the Pt-Co CSS catalyst is increased by 4 times, and it has better stability. More importantly, the current work opens a door to the batch preparation of Pt-based catalysts and synthesis of shell nanostructures.
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