Carbon-supported PtAu alloy nanoparticle catalysts for enhanced electrocatalytic oxidation of formic acid

- Pt100−mAum/C catalysts with controllable bimetallic composition were synthesized.
- The correlation for the effect of PtAu bimetallic composition on mass activity was established.
- The Pt50Au50/C catalyst exhibits an eight-fold increase of electrocatalytic activity for the oxidation of formic acid in comparison with Pt/C.
- The origin of the high activity mainly owes to its high selectivity toward the dehydrogenation of formic acid molecules on the bimetallic alloy surface.