Carbon-supported Ag@Pt core–shell nanoparticles with enhanced electrochemical activity for methanol oxidation and oxygen reduction reaction

• Ag@Pt/C core–shell nanoparticles are synthesized from a facile stepwise reduction approach.
• The nanostructured Pt shells on the Ag core are confirmed by HRTEM.
• Ag@Pt/C core–shell catalysts exhibit excellent electrocatalytic activities for both methanol oxidation and ORR.

Carbon-supported Ag@Pt core–shell nanoparticles with different Ag/Pt ratios are successfully prepared via a facile stepwise reduction approach and used as electrocatalysts for direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC). The nanostructured Pt shells on the Ag core are confirmed by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM). Electrochemical studies reveal that such Ag@Pt core–shell catalysts possess higher electrocatalytic activities for both methanol oxidation and oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in comparison to the commercial Pt/C, which may be attributed to high utilization of Pt resulted from the formation of core–shell structure and the appropriate size of core–shell Ag@Pt particles (∼3.0 nm).