Facile large-scale synthesis of Au-Pt alloyed nanowire networks as efficient electrocatalysts for methanol oxidation and oxygen reduction reactions

In this work, bimetallic Au-Pt alloyed nanowire networks (AuPt NNs) were facilely synthesized by a simple and rapid one-pot wet-chemical method on a large-scale, using N-methylimidazole as a structure-directing agent and a weak stabilizing agent. The surface of AuPt NNs was clean owing to the easy removal of the adsorbed N-methylimidazole. The control experiments demonstrated that the morphologies of AuPt NNs were strongly correlated with the amount of N-methylimidazole and reaction temperature. The formation mechanism included the four-stage growth processes: rapid nucleation, selective adsorption, pi-pi induced assembly, and oriented attachment growth. The as-synthesized AuPt NNs exhibited enhanced electrocatalytic activity and improved stability for methanol oxidation reaction (MOR) and oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) as compared to commercial Pt black and individual Pt nanoparticles.