Nanoporous nickel-copper-phosphorus amorphous alloy film for methanol electro-oxidation in alkaline medium

• Novel Ni-Cu-P amorphous alloy with nanoporous structure was fabricated by LSV etching.
• Lower onset oxidation potential of methanol at NP-NiCuP than both S-NiCuP and NP-NiCu.
• Superior activity and stability for methanol oxidation at the NP-NiCuP electrode.
• Long lifetime of the NP-NiCuP electrode.

Nanoporous Ni-Cu-P amorphous alloy (NP-NiCuP) and nanoporous Ni-Cu crystalline alloy (NP-NiCu) are prepared by the linear sweep voltammetry (LSV) etching of copper from the electroless Ni-Cu-P and Ni-Cu alloy coatings, respectively. The results of X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis show that the nanoporous Ni-Cu-P alloy is amorphous structure. The scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis demonstrates the NP-NiCuP shows a 3-D bi-continuous porous structure with the pore size of 150–200 nm and the ligament size of around 100 nm. Electrochemical performances are measured by cyclic voltammetry (CV) and chronoamperometry (CA). The results prove that the NP-NiCuP electrode exhibits higher the proton diffusion coefficient (D0) of Ni(OH)2 and surface coverage (Γ*) of the redox species than those on smooth electroless Ni-Cu-P amorphous alloy (S-NiCuP) and NP-NiCu electrodes in alkaline solution obviously. Moreover, electro-oxidation of methanol suggests that the NP-NiCuP electrode holds higher anodic current density and lower onset potential than the S-NiCuP and NP-NiCu electrodes. Finally, the NP-NiCuP electrode has stable redox behavior and superior catalytic stability for methanol oxidation.

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