MXene-reinforced octahedral PtCu nanocages with boosted electrocatalytic performance towards endocrine disrupting...

Rational tailoring of hollow and porous bimetallic structures with excellent electrocatalytic performance is appealing yet challenging. Further, combining independent bimetallic nanoparticles with flexible two-dimensional substrate by forming stable heterocomplex is still highly desired for electrocatalysis. Herein, hierarchical PtCu alloy octahedrons with hollow interiors and nanosheet-assembled nanoshells were synthesized by a facile and efficient chemical transformation strategy using Cu₂O as sacrificial templates. Such octahedral PtCu nanocages displayed significantly enhanced electrocatalytic activity owing to their unique hollow and porous architectures which provided easy access for analytes to the catalyst surface. Thereafter, introduction of Ti₃C₂T_x MXene was realized via simple incubation of Ti₃C₂T_x in solution containing the 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane-capped PtCu, and their electrostatic interaction guaranteed the firm adsorption of PtCu nanocages on Ti₃C₂T_x nanosheets. It turned out that the sensitivity of the hybrid sensor was remarkably improved for electrochemical monitoring of endocrine disrupting pollutants in water, exhibiting ultrawide linear ranges and sub-nanomole detection limits. The eminent electrode performance is attributed to the high specific area, fast electrochemical kinetics, decent electrical catalytic ability, and the synergistic effect between Pt, Cu, and MXene.