Free-standing Pt@RuO2·xH2O nanorod arrays on Si wafers as electrodes for methanol electro-oxidation

RuO2·xH2O nanorod arrays free-standing on Si wafers are prepared by an anodic aluminum oxide template assistant method. Pt nanograins in the size of 3-5 nm are deposited on the RuO2·xH2O nanorod arrays uniformly by a cool sputtering approach. Electrochemical measurements indicate that, the Pt@RuO2·xH2O nanorod arrays have larger electrochemical active areas (EAAs) and better poisoning resistant ability for methanol electro-oxidation, compared with Pt nanograins that deposited on Ti wafers directly (named Pt/Ti). The EAAs of Pt@RuO2·xH2O and Pt/Ti electrodes are 40.6 and 31.1 m2 g−1, respectively. The poisoning rate of Pt@RuO2·xH2O arrays is 8.9 × 10−4% per second, much smaller than that of Pt/Ti electrodes (3.4 × 10−3% per second).