Preparation of Highly Active Pt-Cu Nanocubes as Electrocatalyst toward Methanol and Formic Acid Oxidation in Fuel Cells

 Synthesis of High-quality, highly monodisperse, bimetallic Pt-Cu nanocubes that have superior catalytic activity for Methanol and Formic Acid Oxidation in Fuel Cells

 Technology Overview:  

 High-quality bimetallic PtxCu100-x (x =54-80 at. %) nanocubes can be synthesized using the aforementioned process described in US 8,741,801. Electrochemical evaluation identified Pt60Cu40 nanocubes having superior catalytic activity for methanol oxidation, in comparison with those of spherical Pt60Cu40 nanocubes and Pt nanocubes with similar sizes. Pt80Cu20 nanocubes also identified as the best electrocatalyst on basis of maintainable electrocatalytic activity and remarkable long-term stability  (~ 300 hours vs 3 hours for Pt nanocubes) when being performed towards formic acid oxidation reaction.

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• PtCu nanocubes produced are highly monodisperse both in shape and size. 
• The {100}-terminated PtCu nanoparticles exhibit superior catalytic activity towards methanol oxidation reaction.
• Pt80Cu20 nanocubes show high durability (~ 30,000 cyclings).
• The synthesis method does not require any extensive equipment.

Intellectual Property:

Intellectual Property Summary:

• US 8,592,339