Lattice Strain and Composition Effects on the Methanol Oxidation Performance of Platinum-Ruthenium-Nickel Ternary...

Ternary Pt-based structures are a positive progress in addressing the disadvantages of monometallic and bimetallic Pt-based alloys for the electrochemical oxidation process of simple alcohols, which is a vital half-reaction in fuel cell technologies. We herein report a facile NaBH₄-assisted ethylene glycol reduction process for fabricating a series of nanosized PtRuNi ternary alloys to explore the relationship between physicochemical properties and electrocatalytic behaviors for the acidic methanol oxidation reaction (MOR). Owing to a balance between lattice strain and synergistic effects, the Pt₆₀Ru₂₀Ni₂₀/C electrocatalyst shows the highest MOR efficiency with the mass activity/specific activity of 844.48 mA mg_Metal^-1/1.93 mA cm^-2, being a 1.94 and 2.38 times increase compared to those of the PtRu catalyst, respectively. Also, the Pt₆₀Ru₂₀Ni₂₀/C catalyst possesses superior CO-tolerance and durability in strongly acidic electrolytes. This work suggests that optimizing the surface strain and electronic effects can boost the overall MOR efficiency of multicomponent Pt-based materials, which can help to further develop next-generation catalysts for energy conversion-related technologies.