Co-doped Pt Nanowire Networks with Clean Surfaces for Enhanced Oxygen Reduction Reactions

Surfactants or capping agents are usually employed to control the shapes and sizes of metal nanowires (NWs). Polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) and oleylamine (OAm) are the most common capping agents used in the synthesis of metal nanowires. However, these capping agents bind strongly onto the surface of the nanowires and severely prevent the reactant molecules from entering the active sites. In the present research, a facile acetic acid/NaBH4 treatment technology is reported to effectively remove PVP and OAm from the surface of the co-doped Pt NWs. Interestingly, the morphology of poor crystalline platinum nanowires treated with NaBH4 solution is transformed into nanowire networks (NWNs) with higher crystallinity. Furthermore, in comparison with the commercial Pt/C catalyst, the catalytic activity of co-doped Pt NWNs with clean surfaces shows improvements of up to 4.1 times for mass activity and 5.1 times for specific activity, respectively.