High loading Pt nanoparticles on ordered mesoporous carbon sphere arrays for highly active methanol electro-oxidation

Abstract Three-dimensionally (3D) ordered mesoporous carbon sphere arrays (OMCS) are explored to support high loading (60 wt%) Pt nanoparticles as electrocatalysts for the methanol oxidation reaction (MOR). The OMCS has a unique hierarchical nanostructure with ordered large mesopores and macropores that can facilitate high dispersion of the Pt nanoparticles and fast mass transport during the reactions. The prepared Pt/OMCS exhibits uniformly dispersed Pt nanoparticles with an average size of ∼2.0 nm on the mesoporous walls of the carbon spheres. The Pt/OMCS catalyst shows significantly enhanced specific electrochemically active surface area (ECSA) (73.5 m 2  g −1 ) and electrocatalytic activity (0.69 mA cm −2 ) for the MOR compared with the commercial 60 wt% Pt/C catalyst.