A new biomass template to prepare multi-channel structure of WO3 and its application for methanol electro-oxidation

• Multi-channel structure WO3 was formed by duplicating the natural structure of reed.
• mc-WO3 as a support shows improved performance for methanol oxidation.
• Electron diffusion and mass transfer get enhanced due to the multi-channel structure.

Reed was used as the template and its unique multi-channel structure was fully duplicated on the WO3 particles by simple impregnation and calcination. The prepared WO3 particles which have multi-channel structure (mc-WO3) were evaluated as a support for methanol electro-oxidation. 10 wt% Pt was loaded on the mc-WO3 support by employing microwave-assisted polyol strategy. The morphological characterizations suggest that Pt is homogeneously dispersed on mc-WO3 with an average size of 3.3 nm. Electrochemical studies indicate that the electro-catalytic performance of the synthesized catalyst is better for methanol electro-oxidation compared with that of commercial Pt/C. This improved activity can be attributed to the enhanced H-spillover effect caused by the increased interface between Pt and WO3 in the multi-channel structure of catalysts. It is also found that the multi-channel structure of WO3 could facilitate the electron transfer and mass transport during the electrochemical reaction.