Trimetallic Au@PtPd Mesoporous Nanorods as Efficient Electrocatalysts for the Oxygen Reduction Reaction

Porous Pt-based nanostructures are highly promising electrocatalysts for fuel cells, because of their high catalytic surface area and sufficient catalytically active sites. Herein, we adopt a facile method in aqueous solution to synthesize the Au@PtPd mesoporous nanorod (Au@PtPd MNR) in which a Au nanorod (NR) serves as core, and mesoporous PtPd acts as shell. Because of the mesoporous core–shell structure and composition effect, Au@PtPd MNR exhibits superior catalytic activity and durability for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), as compared with PtPd mesoporous sphere (MS), Au@Pt MNR, and commercial Pt/C catalyst. This synthetic strategy is appropriate for preparation of other mesoporous core–shell structures for various promising applications.