High loading Pt nanoparticles on ordered mesoporous carbon sphere arrays for highly active methanol electro-oxidation

Three-dimensionally (3D) ordered mesoporous carbon sphere arrays (OMCS) are explored to support high loading (60 wt%) Pt nanoparticles as electrocatalysts for the methanol oxidation reaction (MOR). The OMCS has a unique hierarchical nanostructure with ordered large mesopores and macropores that can facilitate high dispersion of the Pt nanoparticles and fast mass transport during the reactions. The prepared Pt/OMCS exhibits uniformly dispersed Pt nanoparticles with an average size of ∼2.0 nm on the mesoporous walls of the carbon spheres. The Pt/OMCS catalyst shows significantly enhanced specific electrochemically active surface area (ECSA) (73.5 m2 g−1) and electrocatalytic activity (0.69 mA cm−2) for the MOR compared with the commercial 60 wt% Pt/C catalyst.

Graphical abstractOrdered mesoporous carbon sphere arrays are explored to support high loading (60 wt%) Pt nanoparticles (∼2.0 nm) as electrocatalysts for the methanol oxidation reaction and they show enhanced electrocatalytic performance compared with the commercial Pt/C catalyst.Figure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slide