Hollow carbon hemisphere with controlled morphology as support material for platinum nanoparticle catalyst towards the methanol electro-oxidation

•Morphology controlled hollow carbon hemisphere is prepared with PS template.•The hollow carbon hemisphere has a BET surface area of 507 m2/g.•Pt/HCHS exhibits enhanced catalytic activity towards the methanol electro-oxidation.

Morphology controlled hollow carbon hemisphere (HCHS) has been prepared using polystyrene (PS) spheres as templates. The obtained HCHS can be tailored from hollow carbon sphere (HCS) to bowl-like hemispheres by adjusting the ratio of precursor to templates, and mainly in amorphous structure with a BET surface area of 507 m2/g. The HCHS was then applied for the support material of the platinum (Pt) nanoparticle catalyst (Pt/HCHS). The nanoparticles can be highly dispersed with a narrow particle size distribution and an average diameter of 3.9 nm. The electrochemical analysis indicated that the Pt/HCHS exhibits enhanced catalytic activity towards the methanol electro-oxidation in terms of the onset potential, current density and stability in alkaline solution compared with carbon black supported Pt catalyst (Pt/CB), suggesting that the HCHS with unique hollow structure has great potential as a support material for the electrocatalysts.

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