Green preparation of self-supporting platinum nanoflower catalyst and its electrocatalytic oxidation performance of methanol

Abstract

The three-dimensional (3D) self-supporting Pt nanoflower catalyst was prepared by using Pt organic compounds as precursors in a low-temperature molten salt system. The obtained Pt nanoflower nanoparticle can reach 400–500 nm with a face-centered cubic structure, which has the structural characteristics of a loose framework and more exposed active sites. The surfactant-free Pt nanoflower was directly used as methanol electrooxidation reaction (MOR) electrocatalysts without any pretreatment and activated carbon support. The results of electrochemical catalytic oxidation of methanol showed that the Pt nanoflower catalyst exhibit more enhanced electrocatalytic oxidation performance toward methanol compared with the commercial platinum black catalyst. The green and effective method can be developed and expected to enable mass production of fuel cell catalysts.