Winterberries-like 3D network of N-doped porous carbon anchoring on N-doped carbon nanotubes for highly efficient platinum-based catalyst in methanol electrooxidation

A series of platinum-based catalyst Pt/Co/N-PC (N-doped porous carbon)/N-CNTs (N-doped carbon nanotubes) were prepared successfully by loading Pt nanoparticles on the winterberries-like 3D network of Co/N-PC/N-CNTs, which was obtained from carbonization of in-situ grew ZIF-67/PPy (polypyrrole). The Pt nanoparticles with about 2.5 nm in diameter uniformly dispersed on the Co/N-PC/N-CNTs. The prepared electrocatalyst Pt/Co/N-PC/N-CNTs exhibited excellent activity toward methanol electrocatalytic oxidation reaction. The mass activity (583 mA·mg⁻¹_Pt) tested by the Cyclic voltammograms reached 2.1-fold greater than that of commercial Pt/C. The steady-state current density (42.3 mA·mg⁻¹_Pt) tested by the chronoamperometric measurement reached 6.9-fold higher than that of commercial Pt/C. The outstanding methanol oxidation activity and stability of the Pt/Co/N-PC/N-CNTs were ascribed to the rich nitrogen-containing sites, large specific surface area and 3D conductive network of the winterberries-like carbon support Co/N-PC/N-CNTs, which displayed excellent support of Pt-based catalyst and has potential industrial applications.