Alloyed Pt-Sn nanoparticles on hierarchical nitrogen-doped carbon nanocages for advanced glycerol electrooxidation

Glycerol is an alternative sustainable fuel for fuel cells, and efficient electrocatalyst is crucial for glycerol oxidation reaction (GOR). The promising Pt catalysts are subject to the inadequate capability of C–C bond cleavage and the susceptibility to poisoning. Herein, Pt-Sn alloyed nanoparticles are immobilized on hierarchical nitrogen-doped carbon nanocages (hNCNCs) by convenient ethylene glycol reduction and subsequent thermal reduction. The optimal Pt3Sn/hNCNC catalyst exhibits excellent GOR performance with a high mass activity (5.9 $${\rm{A}} \cdot {\rm{m}}{{\rm{g}}_{{\rm{Pt}}}}^{-1}$$ ), which is 2.7 and 5.4 times higher than that of Pt/hNCNC and commercial Pt/C, respectively. Such an enhancement can be mainly ascribed to the increased anti-poisoning and C–C bond cleavage capability due to the Pt3Sn alloying effect and Sn-enriched surface, the high dispersion of Pt3Sn active species due to N-participation, as well as the high accessibility of Pt3Sn active species due to the three-dimensional (3D) hierarchical architecture of hNCNC. This study provides an effective GOR electrocatalyst and convenient approach for catalyst preparation.