Large-Scale Fabrication of Hollow Pt3Al Nanoboxes and Their Electrocatalytic Performance for Hydrogen Evolution Reaction

摘要

Hollow structuring and alloying have been known to be effective methods to improve physicochemical properties and create new functionalities of nanomaterials. However, it is technically difficult to fabricate hollow alloyed intermetallic compound nanostructures, which are emerging as promising electrocatalysts for water splitting, in a controllable and scalable manner using current wet chemical routes. Here, we report a simple method allowing for large-scale fabrication of hollow Pt_(3)Al nanoparticles using a melt-spinning and subsequent self-templating etching route. We demonstrate that upon etching, both microstructure and phase composition changed, leading to the transformation of Al-rich PtAl_(6) intermetallic compound ribbons to interconnected hollow nanoparticles of Pt-rich Pt_(3)Al with sizes varying from 4 to 22 nm. The electrochemical measurement shows that the hollow Pt_(3)Al intermetallic nanoparticles have better electrocatalytic activity and catalytic stability than commercial Pt/C catalysts for the hydrogen evolution reaction in alkali media, showing that the hollow Pt_(3)Al nanobox can be used as potential cathode catalysts for water splitting. The facile melt-spinning and self-templating etching route can be readily extended to fabricate other noble-metal-based alloy hollow nanostructures on a large scale for various applications.