Synthesis of Pt nanoparticles with the aid of PVA for highly active and stable alcohol electro-oxidation

In this work, Pt/PVA catalysts with homogeneously distributed platinum nanoparticles were synthesized by a simple one-step hydrothermal method. Among all the catalysts, Pt 1.2 /PVA catalyst shows the smallest average particle size (4.97 nm). This is related to the anchoring effect of PVA for Pt nanoparticles, which can prevent the agglomeration of Pt nanoparticles. Meanwhile, the electronic structure of Pt is optimized due to the interaction between PVA and Pt NPs. This may weaken the adsorption of CO-like species on the surface of Pt, which can enhance the activity and stability of the catalyst. Therefore, the as-prepared Pt 1.2 /PVA catalyst displays the ultra-high mass activity of 1195 mA mg pt −1 for methanol oxidation reaction. Also, the residual activity of Pt 1.2 /PVA catalyst is 5.06 times higher than that of commercial Pt/C catalyst after a chronoamperometry test for 5000 s. Besides, Pt 1.2 /PVA catalyst also exhibits excellent activity and stability for ethanol oxidation reaction, ethylene glycol oxidation reaction, and glycerol oxidation reaction. This result provides a new idea for the synthesis of Pt-based nanocatalysts with extensive high catalytic activity and stability for small molecular alcohols.