Designed synthesis of thin CeO2 nanowires-supported Pt electrocatalysts with pore-interconnected structure and its high catalytic activity for methanol oxidation

A strong local coordination structure of Pt nanoparticles (NPs) over ultra-thin CeO2 nanowires (NWS) has been synthesized to investigate the role of CeO2 NWS on the enhancement of methanol oxidation activity. The Pt/CeO2 NWS catalyst was characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy and electrochemical tests. The results showed that Pt/CeO2 NWS exhibited 1.23 times higher activity and 1.22 times longer-time durability over a commercial 20 wt% Pt/XC-72 catalyst. To further enhance the activity of Pt/CeO2 NWS catalyst and mass transfer ability, the in situ carbonization of urea had been adopted to provide N-doped carbon doping layer and porous interconnection between CeO2 (NWS) network, and the resulted catalyst showed 1.38 times greater activity than undoped Pt/CeO2 NWS. It was ascribed to the pyridine-like and pyrrole-like nitrogen in N-doped carbon layers, which greatly increased the electrical conductivity of CeO2 NWS and decreased the loss of electron transfer energy, as well as the strong interaction between Pt NPs and CeO2 NWS with their anisotropy and unique pore-interconnected structure.