Role of composition and texture on bifunctional catalytic performance of extruded Au-Cu alloys

The catalytic activity of Au₂Cu and AuCu samples for the electro-oxidation of CH₃OH and HCOOH, together with their structure and micro-hardness were investigated using various techniques. The addition of Cu can improve the micro-hardness of samples, which is ascribed to the solid solution strengthening effect. The Schmid factor and low angle grain boundary fraction confirm the difference of plastic deformation ability for samples, being consistent with hardness results. The Au-Cu samples exhibit good bifunctional catalytic performance due to the synergistic effect between Au and Cu. In addition, the Au₂Cu sample exhibits a higher catalytic activity than the AuCu sample, suggesting that appropriate preferred orientation plays a key role in the improvement of catalytic activities of Au based catalysts.