High performance of PtCu@TiO₂nanocatalysts toward methanol oxidation reaction: from synthesis to molecular picture insight

Abstract

electro-catalyst has higher intrinsic catalytic activity and comparable mass specific activity for MOR in comparison with a commercial Pt/C catalyst. The experimental analyses were complemented by density functional theory-based computations. The theoretical results revealed that the most energetically favorable Pt and Cu arrangement in the supported PtCu nanoparticles was core (Cu)-shell (Pt) and/or phase-separated. The inter-atomic interactions responsible for the bimetallic cluster stabilization on titania were highlighted from the computed electronic charge distribution.