Highly stable Pt_(3)Ni ultralong nanowires tailored with trace Mo for the ethanol oxidation

Pt_(3)Ni alloy structure is an effective strategy to accelerate ethanol oxidation reaction(EOR),while the stability in acid electrolyte is the fatal weakness and the current density still needs to be enhanced.Herein,ultralong Pt_(3)Ni nanowires tailored by trace Mo(Mo/Pt_(3)Ni NWs)were successfully synthesized by surfactant free method.The specific activity of the optimized catalyst was 2.66 mA·cm^(-2),which is approximately 2.16 and 4.6-fold that of Pt_(3)Ni NWs and commercial Pt/C catalyst,respectively.Most importantly,the Mo/Pt_(3)Ni NWs catalyst showed negligible structure degradation after 3,000 cycles(42 h)of durability test in 0.1 M HClO4 and 0.5 M ethanol,as compared to severe structural collapse and Ni dissolution for the pure Pt_(3)Ni NWs.The density functional theory(DFT)calculation also confirmed that both the surface and subsurface Mo atom could form Pt-Mo and Ni-Mo bonds with Pt and Ni,which were stronger than Pt-Ni bonds,to pin the Ni atoms in the unstable position and suppress the dissolution of surface Ni.The findings of this study indicate a promising pathway for the design and engineering of durable alloy nanocatalysts for direct ethanol fuel cell applications.