Synthesis of ordered intermetallic PtBi2 nanoparticles for methanol-tolerant catalyst in oxygen electroreduction

Ordered intermetallic phase PtBi2 nanoparticles with an average particle size of 4.1 +/- 1.7 nm were synthesized at ambient conditions in an aqueous solution by co-reducing H2PtCl6 and Bi(NO3)(3) with NaBH4 in the presence of polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) as a capping agent. The produced PtBi2 nanoparticle catalyst, which has some distinguishable properties from Pt or Pt-based disordered catalysts, displays a strong electrocatalytic activity toward oxygen reduction with a methanol-tolerant property. The methods, such as powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron micrograph (TEM), selected area electron diffraction (SAED), energy-dispersed X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), and cyclic voltammetry, were employed for catalyst structure and activity characterization.