Supramolecular Assembly Templated Nitrogen-Doped Hollow Carbon Tubes as Highly Active and Durable Catalytic Support for Methanol Electrooxidation

A supramolecular polymerization-assisted approach is proposed for the preparation of 1D hollow nitrogen-doped carbon tubes (h-NCTs) as an advanced support material to immobilize metal nanoparticles (NPs) toward methanol electrooxidation. Supramolecular assembly (melamine cyanurate) is adopted as sacrificial structure-directing template and nitrogen source, rendering the as-prepared Pt/h-NCTs catalyst 1D hollow architecture, highly accessible surface area, efficient in situ nitrogen doping and homogeneous dispersion of ultrafine Pt NPs. Because of these favorable features, the resultant Pt/h-NCTs catalyst delivers an outstanding catalytic activity and improved stability for efficient methanol electrooxidation reaction in comparison with commercial Pt/C reference catalyst. We believe our work may contribute to the development of 1D structural heteroatoms doped carbon-based materials for advanced energy storage and conversion.