Facile synthesis of PtCu nanowires with enhanced electrocatalytic activity

Using Te nanowires as a sacrificial template, we developed a facile wet-chemical method for the synthesis of bimetallic PtCu nanowires. The as-prepared PtCu nanowires possess a porous structure and high aspect ratio. Transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, energy dispersive spectroscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectrum elemental mapping, inductively coupled plasmamass spectroscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) measurement techniques are used to analyze the structure and composition of the as-prepared nanowires. The XPS results verify that the incorporation of Cu led to the modified electronic state of Pt. Electrocatalytic results prove that the as-prepared nanowires present superior activity for methanol and ethanol electrooxidation in an alkaline solution.