LAUSR

Fuel cells hold great promise for clean and sustainable energy, whereas their widespread commercialization strongly depends on the development of highly efficient and stable electrocatalysts. Herein, three-dimensional fluffy PtPd nanocorals (NCs) loaded on two-dimensional (2D) hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) supports were successfully achieved by a simple one-step strategy based on ultraviolet (UV) laser-excited photochemical reaction. As for alcohol oxidation reaction, the h-BN/PtPd NCs with unique nanoporous surface provide more enhanced electrocatalytic performances than many previous nanocatalysts, owing to abundant active sites and plentiful charge-transfer channels formed on high electrode–electrolyte contact area. Especially, the mass activity of h-BN/PtPd NCs is about 962.8 mA mgPtPd–1 in methanol oxidation reaction in alkaline solution, which can be maintained at ∼274.9 mA mgPtPd–1 (28.6% of the initial one) even after a 5 × 104 s durability test. The present work not only offers an advanced electrocatalyst for long-term fuel cells but also provides a versatile route for construction of complex metallic nanocomposites on 2D supports, holding great potential for diverse energy-related applications.