In situ formation of porous trimetallic PtRhFe nanospheres decorated on ultrathin MXene nanosheets as highly efficient catalysts for ethanol oxidation

MXene as a new family of two-dimensional (2D) materials, has attracted more and more attention for its flexibility, superior structural stability, high electrical conductivity, and hydrophilic surfaces. Herein, we successfully report the porous ternary PtRhFe nanospheres supported on the surface of Ti3C2Tx MXene nanosheets (denoted as PtRhFe-PNS@MXene) as the enhanced catalyst for ethanol oxidation reaction (EOR), which is constructed via a one-pot solvothermal synthesis. Impressively, the composition optimized Pt69Rh8Fe23-PNS@MXene catalyst exhibits the highest specific and mass activity and excellent stability for EOR, which could be due to the porous structure and the metal-support effect between trimetallic PtRhFe nanospheres and MXene nanosheets. The porous structure provides abundant active sites and channels, which significantly promote charge and mass transfer. Moerover, the participation of MXene can significantly improve the catalytic performance due to the rich termination groups (-O, -OH and -F) on the surfaces and the frequent electron exchange with the teimetallic alloys. This work helps to open up a new pathway for designing the highly efficient EOR catalysts.