Preparation of hollow platinum nanospheres/carbon nanotubes nanohybrids and their improved stability for electro-oxidation of methanol

We report a facile method for the synthesis of hollow platinum nanospheres/carbon nanotubes nanohybrids (CNTs-G-PtHNs). Silver nanoparticles were used as sacrificial templates and uniformly deposited on the functionalized carbon nanotubes (CNTs). By galvanic replacement reaction between CNTs-supported silver and PtCl62−, well-dispersed hollow platinum nanospheres (PtHNs) were “grown” on CNTs. The morphology and electrochemical properties of the CNTs-G-PtHNs nanohybrids have been investigated by transmission electron microscopy and cyclic voltammetry, respectively. PtHNs in the CNTs-G-PtHNs nanohybrids have an average diameter of about 8 nm and the CNTs-G-PtHNs nanohybrids have higher electrochemical surface area and better electrocatalytic performance towards methanol oxidation than CNTs-A-PtHNs nanohybrids which were obtained by adsorbing the pre-synthesized PtHNs onto CNTs. Most importantly, the long-term stability of CNTs-G-PtHNs nanohybrids for methanol electro-oxidation has obviously improved compared with that of the CNTs-A-PtHNs nanohybrids.

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► Synthesis of hollow platinum nanospheres/carbon nanotubes nanohybrids.
► Hollow platinum nanospheres with high dispersion “grown” on CNTs.
► The obtained nanohybrids show excellent stability for methanol oxidation.