Bimetallic IrAu mesoporous nanovesicles

Abstract Two-dimensional metallic nanosheets and mesoporous nanostructures attract increasing attentions in fields of energy conversion and storage due to their own different structural advantages. However, integration of their structural advantages into bimetallic or multimetallic systems for constructing highly efficient catalysts by facile methods is still a challenge yet greatly desired. Herein, we propose a feasible one-pot strategy for the synthesis of mesoporous IrAu nanovesicles (mIrAu NVs). The synthesis could be achieved by co-reduction of metal precursors in the presence of formic acid as reducing agent and poly(styrene-b-ethylene oxide) as structure-directing agent, resulting in bimetallic IrAu nanovesicles composed of curly mesoporous nanosheets. With the synergism of compositional and structural advantages, the as-obtained mIrAu NVs exhibit Pt-like catalytic activity for the oxygen reduction reaction in alkaline conditions, accompanied with enhanced durability and improved methanol tolerance.