Synthesis of ultrathin PtPdBi nanowire and its enhanced catalytic activity towards p-nitrophenol reduction

Ultrathin PtPdBi tri-metallic nanowires (NWs, diameters ranged from 3 nm to 5 nm) were prepared in a one-pot polyol process in which the molar ratios of the three metals could be tuned depending on the amount of initial precursors. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and elemental mapping revealed that these NWs were alloys with a face-centered cubic crystal structure similar to PtPd alloy. p-Nitrophenol was used as a probe to assess the catalytic activities of the as-prepared PtPdBi NWs. The results indicated that the existence of a small amount of Bi in the PtPdBi alloy efficiently improved its catalytic capability towards the reduction of p-nitrophenol. At the specified Pt : Pd : Bi ratio of 55 : 38 : 7, PtPdBi nanowires showed the best catalytic activity of all the nanomaterials tested (Pt, Pd and PdPd spherical nanoparticles; PtBi and PdBi nanowires) a feature that was attributed to the optimal synergistic effect of the three metallic elements.