Platinum Group Nanowires for Efficient Electrocatalysis

At the frontier of electrocatalysis, there is a research endeavor focusing on platinum group (PG)-based nanomaterials due to their fantastic morphological diversity and superior catalytic performance. In contrast to catalysts with other morphologies, nanowire catalysts show great potential in electrocatalysis due to their large surface area, abundant high-index facet sites for catalysis, quick electron and mass transport for better conductivity, promotion for recycling and 3D structure construction, and good prohibition for vulnerability to dissolution, Ostwald ripening, and aggregation. Yet, it is challenging to endow PG nanowires with a precise control on size, shape, and composition. Here, the recently available strategies for designing PG-based nanowire electrocatalysts with enhanced activity and stability are highlighted. A summary of the synthetic methods for generating different kinds of nanowires with detailed experimental parameters is also provided, with particular emphases on the recent progress of PG-based nanowires for boosting the electrocatalytic reactions, including fuel cell reactions, hydrogen evolution reaction, and oxygen evolution reaction. In the final section, available perspectives on the future development of PG-based nanowires for enhanced catalytic performances are discussed separately.