Enhanced hydrogen evolution properties obtained by electrochemical modification of carbon-supported platinum–copper bimetallic nanocatalysts and structural characterization

Pt–Cu/C catalysts are synthesized by an ion beam sputtering (IBS) apparatus, followed by annealing in vacuum, and then electrochemical etching with 0.5 M H2SO4 aqueous solution for different times. Electrochemical results show that the sample that was modified electrochemically for 5 h possesses the best electro-catalytic properties. Compared with a Pt/C catalyst, its performance was enhanced by approximately 36.79% and Pt loadings decreased by about 44.70%, indicating the characteristics of lower Pt consumption with higher catalytic activity. Furthermore, the corrosion time is likely to be between 5 and 6 h for its best catalytic activity. XPS studies indicate that a certain correlation between binding energy and electrocatalytic activity is of great significance for regulating binding energy to obtain high catalytic performance.