Selective electrocatalysts toward a prototype of the membraneless direct methanol fuel cell.
Mastery over the structure of nanomaterials enables control of their properties to enhance their performance for a given application. Herein we demonstrate the design and fabrication of Pt-based nanomaterials with enhanced catalytic activity and superior selectivity toward the reactions in direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs) upon the deep understanding of the mechanisms of these electrochemical reactions. In particular, the ternary Au@Ag2S-Pt nanocomposites display superior methanol oxidation reaction (MOR) selectivity due to the electronic coupling effect among different domains of the nanocomposites, while the cage-bell structured Pt-Ru nanoparticles exhibit excellent methanol tolerance for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) at the cathode because of the differential diffusion of methanol and oxygen in the porous Ru shell of the cage-bell nanoparticles. The good catalytic selectivity of these Pt-based nanomaterials via structural construction enables a DMFC to be built without a proton exchange membrane between the fuel electrode and the oxygen electrode.
1] State Key Laboratory of Multiphase Complex Systems, Institute of Process Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China 100190 [2] University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 19A Yuquan Road, Beijing, China 100049.
Yan
Y
Feng
Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology, 31 Biopolis Way, The Nanos, 04-01, Singapore 138669.
Jinhua
J
Yang
1] State Key Laboratory of Multiphase Complex Systems, Institute of Process Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China 100190 [2] University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 19A Yuquan Road, Beijing, China 100049.
Hui
H
Liu
State Key Laboratory of Multiphase Complex Systems, Institute of Process Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China 100190.
Feng
F
Ye
1] State Key Laboratory of Multiphase Complex Systems, Institute of Process Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China 100190 [2] Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology, 31 Biopolis Way, The Nanos, 04-01, Singapore 138669.
Jun
J
Yang