Pt–Cu Porous Metallic Aerogels for Ethanol Electrooxidation Reaction

Metallic aerogels (MAs) display three-dimensional conductive backbones and interconnected hierarchical pores, which provide numerous catalytic sites and efficient electron transfer pathways. However, it is still challenging to rationally design well-tailored MAs in terms of their morphologies. Herein, for the first time, Pt3Cu2 porous metallic aerogels (PMAs) were designed by starting with PtCu3 MAs and employing acid etching as high-performance electrocatalysts for ethanol oxidation reaction (EOR). Pt3Cu2 PMAs presented 2.3 times in mass activity and 3.4 times in specific activity over the commercial Pt/C in EOR. The incorporation of Cu and the larger specific surface area of the PMAs collectively confer Pt3Cu2 PMAs with outstanding catalytic performance and stability.