LAUSR

Metal cation is an emerging type of morphology controlling agency in nanoscience, but has rarely been used in fabrication of hollow structures. Herein, with the addition of Ni2+ ion, PtCu alloy octahedral nanoframes (PtCu AONFs) with plenty of spiny nanothorns on the apexes are synthesized via one-step hydrothermal reaction. Ni2+ ion plays a pivotal role in forming hollow structures because it facilitates the diffusion of Cu atoms in the replacement reaction between initially formed Cu templates and PtCl62–. The as-prepared PtCu AONFs show a superior electrocatalytical activity and durability toward oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) with a mass activity (MA) and specific activity (SA) of 0.28 A/mgPt and 0.50 mA/cm2 at 0.90 V vs reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE), which are 2.8- and 2.6-fold times that of commercial Pt/C (0.10 A/mgPt and 0.19 mA/cm2). In addition, the electrocatalytical oxidation property of PtCu AONFs toward methanol also better than that of commercial Pt/C. This study offers a new strateg...