Facile Construction of N-Doped Graphene Supported Hollow PtAg Nanodendrites as Highly Efficient Electrocatalysts toward Formic Acid Oxidation Reaction

The lack of cost-efficient catalysts for the electrooxidation of fuel in the anodic electrode has been a major barrier for the practical large-scale commercial application and hence needs to be optimized. Tuning the morphologies and structures of Pt-based bimetallic nanostructure plays a key role in controlling its interaction with reactants, and thus affects its electrocatalytic efficiency. In this regard, endowing the nanocatalysts with both of high surface active areas and controlled facets through modifying their surface compositions and morphologies can significantly enhance their electrocatalytic performances. To this end, we herein demonstrate a facile wet-chemical method to successfully construct the N-doped graphene supported hollow PtAg nanodendrites under the assistance of ultrasonic treatment. More importantly, the resulting N-doped graphene supported hollow PtAg nanodendrites show high performance for the electrooxidation of formic acid with the mass and specific activities of 1258.5 mA mg–1 and 6.14 mA cm–2, 3.77 and 1.57-fold enhancements than those of commercial Pt/C, respectively. It is believed that the as-prepared nanomaterials can be well-applied to serve as the highly efficient anode electrocatalysts for the commercial application of fuel cells and beyond.