Well-defined Pt-Fe alloy with enhanced catalytic performance for methanol oxidation and formic acid oxidation

It is of great significance to fabricate the Pt-based alloys with high catalytic activity, as well as the robust stability for methanol oxidation reaction (MOR) and formic acid oxidation reaction (FAOR). In this work, Pt-Fe alloy nanocrystals with concave nanocube and nanoflower structures are successfully synthesized by a simple one-pot method using polyvinylpyrrolidone and glycine as the dual reductants and dual protecting agents. Remarkably, the Pt-Fe nanoflower nanocrystals showed much higher electrocatalytic activity and stability toward MOR (FAOR), which was almost 9 (10) times greater than that of Pt black and 13 (15) times greater than that of commercial Pt/C catalyst. The excellent electrocatalytic performance is ascribed to the unique nanoflower morphology and bimetallic alloy composition.