Tannic acid modified PdAu alloy nanowires as efficient oxygen reduction electrocatalysts.

Design of the structure, composition and interface of the catalysts is very important to improve oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) catalytic activity under alkaline environment. Herein, we propose a direct method to rapid synthesis of tannic acid (TA) modified PdAu alloy nanowires (PdAu@TA NWs). Compared with pure PdAu NWs and commercial Pt/C, the PdAu@TA NWs exhibit superior ORR electrocatalytic activity (mass activity: 0.73 A mg -1 metal and specific activity: 3.50 mA cm -2 ), stability, and methanol tolerance in an alkaline medium because PdAu@TA NWs possess sufficient active sites and synergistic effect that can effectively promote the oxygen reduction, inhibit the oxidation of the catalyst and improve the methanol tolerance of the catalyst. This synthetic method is a promising strategy to prepare metallic catalyst with surface functionalization.