Periodic 1D Assembly of Diblock Hetero-Nanowires As Tandem Electrocatalysts
Authors: Liu Yang , He Yuxiao , Zhu Enbo , Huang Jin , Huang Yu 
Published: December 2024

There has been a growing interest in tandem electrocatalysts with unique interfaces and synergetic functions, which have been reported to exhibit outstanding performance in activity[1], selectivity[2], and stability[3]. Besides the development of monolithic tandem nanostructures, nanoparticle (NP) assembly provides a more desirable and controllable strategy to elaborately design novel nanocatalysts for various applications. Compared with two-dimensional (2D) and 3D tandem nanostructures, 1D tandem nanostructures have attracted more interest due to their high electrochemical surface areas, great atomic utilization, and outstanding structural stability, all of which are highly favored to achieve better electrocatalytic activity and stability. However, controllable 1D NP assembly is still challenging to achieve due to its relatively high surface energy and anisotropy, not to mention the creation of periodic 1D heterogeneous nanostructures with intimate interfaces and clean surfaces.

In this work, we report a strategy to obtain periodic Pt-Au nanowires (NWs) by the assembly of Pt-Au Janus NPs with the assistance of peptide T7 (Ac-TLTTLTN-CONH2). We further demonstrate that the Pt-Au NWs show highly improved catalytic performance in the methanol oxidation reaction (MOR), a 5.3 times higher specific activity and a 2.5 times higher mass activity than that of the current state-of-the-art commercial Pt/C catalyst. The charge transfer at the interfaces of adjacent Pt and Au regions could weaken the binding energy between Pt and CO or CO-like intermediates, contributing to the enhancement of activities in MOR. More importantly, the periodic Pt-Au NWs exhibit outstanding stability in MOR, where the mass activity of Pt-Au NWs after 1000 cycles retains 93.9%, much higher than that of the commercial Pt/C (30.6%). We believe that this strategy to design and obtain periodic NWs by the assembly of Janus NPs is universal and transformative to diverse electrocatalytic reactions to achieve synergistic effects and intimate interfaces with high catalytic activity.[4][5]

In conclusion, we have obtained periodic Pt-Au NWs by the assembly of Pt-Au Janus NPs with the assistance of peptides and demonstrated their outstanding activities and stability in MOR. This research presents a strategy to develop periodic heterogeneous nanowires with intimate interfaces and synergistic effects by the 1D assembly of Janus NPs, which offers an opportunity to design and program periodic 1D tandem catalysts.

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