Amorphous TiO x Stabilized Intermetallic Pt 3 Ti Nanocatalyst for Methanol Oxidation Reaction.

Intermetallic compounds, featuring atomically ordered structures, have emerged as a class of promising electrocatalysts for fuel cells. However, it remains a formidable challenge to controllably synthesize Pt-based intermetallics during the essential high-temperature annealing process as well as stabilize the nanoparticles (NPs) during the electrocatalytic process. Herein, we demonstrated a Ketjen black supported intermetallic Pt 3 Ti nanocatalyst coupled with amorphous TiO x species (Pt 3 Ti-TiO x /KB). The TiO x can not only confine Pt 3 Ti NPs during the synthesis and electrocatalytic process by a strong metal-oxide interaction but also promote the water dissociation for generating more OH species, thus facilitating the conversion of CO ad . The Pt 3 Ti-TiO x /KB showed a significantly enhanced mass activity (2.15 A mg Pt -1 ) for the methanol oxidation reaction, compared with Pt 3 Ti/KB and Pt/C, and presented an impressively high mass activity retention (∼71%) after the durability test. This work provides an effective strategy of coupling Pt-based intermetallics with functional oxides for developing highly performed electrocatalysts.