Smaller Pt particles supported on mesoporous bowl-like carbon for highly efficient and stable methanol oxidation and oxygen reduction reaction

Bowl-like carbons (BLCs) with mesoporous structure are prepared using glucose as carbon source and solid core mesoporous shell silica spheres (SCMSSs) as templates. Pt particles are then loaded on the BLCs as electrocatalyst and used for both methanol oxidation and oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in acidic media. Physical measurements display that the BLCs are formed due to flowing of melted glucose along the mesoporous shell of the SCMSSs. Moreover, the BLCs with high surface area (1108.3 m2 g−1), large pore volume (2.7 cm3 g−1) and mesoporous structure (9.4 nm in diameter) are beneficial for uniform dispersion and stable loading of smaller noble metal particles, and efficiently improve the mass transfer in catalytic reactions, compared to carbon powders. Cyclic voltammogram measurements show that the mass current densities on Pt/BLC electrocatalyst are 2.6 times (1846mAmgPt−1) for methanol oxidation and 1.6 times (180.6mAmgPt−1) for ORR as high as that of commercial Pt/C (TKK). Furthermore, the mesopores give Pt/BLC more electrocatalytic stability due to stronger physical interaction force.