Solvothermal Synthesis of Monodisperse PtCu Dodecahedral Nanoframes with Enhanced Catalytic Activity and Durability for Hydrogen Evolution Reaction

Nanoframes (NFs) with highly open structures have attracted substantial attention because of their large surface area, three-dimensional structure and good stability, which are of significance to enhance the catalytic characters. However, it is still challenging to develop facile and efficient method to construct Pt-based NFs with tailored structures. Herein, a simple solvothermal method was developed to prepare monodisperse PtCu dodecahedral nanoframes (PtCu DNFs), where cetyltrimethylammonium chloride (CTAC) served as the structure-director and dispersing agent, oleylamine as reductant, allantoin as the co-structure-director and coreductant. The PtCu DNFs displayed remarkably improved catalytic performances for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) in both acid and alkaline electrolytes relative to homemade PtCu nanopolyhedrons (NPHs), commercial Pt/C (20 wt%) and Pt black catalysts. The work offers some instructive guidelines for synthesis of novel metallic NFs as efficient HER catalysts.