Surfactant-Free One-Pot Synthesis of Homogeneous Trimetallic PtNiCu Nanoparticles with Size Control by Using Glycine

Area of Science:

• Nanomaterials Science
• Electrochemistry
• Catalysis

Background:

• Homogeneous platinum alloy nanoparticles (NPs) are crucial for fuel cell electrodes.
• Enhancing surface area and activity in multielement NPs synthesis remains challenging.

Purpose of the Study:

• To synthesize ultrasmall homogeneous trimetallic platinum-nickel-copper (PtNiCu) nanoparticles.
• To investigate the role of glycine as a size control agent.
• To evaluate the electrocatalytic activity of the synthesized NPs for ethanol oxidation.

Main Methods:

• Utilized glycine as a size control agent for nanoparticle synthesis.
• Synthesized trimetallic PtNiCu NPs in the 2-5 nm size range.
• Explored the mechanistic roles of dimethyl formamide (DMF), formaldehyde, water, and glycine in NP formation.
• Assessed NP mass activities for ethanol electro-oxidation compared to commercial Pt black.

Main Results:

• Successfully synthesized ultrasmall (2-5 nm) homogeneous trimetallic PtNiCu NPs.
• Identified the mechanistic roles of key reagents in controlling NP size.
• PtNiCu NPs demonstrated significantly enhanced mass activities for ethanol electro-oxidation compared to commercial Pt black.

Conclusions:

• Glycine is an effective size control agent for synthesizing ultrasmall homogeneous trimetallic PtNiCu NPs.
• The developed PtNiCu NPs offer superior electrocatalytic performance for ethanol oxidation, promising for fuel cell applications.