Fabrication of Te@Au core-shell hybrids for efficient ethanol oxidation

► A simple template/reduction approach is developed for fabricating Te@Au hybrids. ► The Te@Au hybrid electrode exhibits much higher electrocatalytic activity in ethanol oxidation. ► The hybrids have higher tolerance on the poisoning by intermediate products. ► The effective surface area was greatly increased due to the formation of Au nanoparticles.