High‐performance Bismuth‐doped Nickel Aerogel Electrocatalyst for Methanol Oxidation Reaction

: Low-cost non-noble metal electrocatalysts towards methanol oxidation are highly demanded in direct methanol fuel cells, but their development has been hindered by limited activity, high onset potential, low conductivity and poor durability. Herein, we present a surface electronic structure tuning strategy of doping a foreign oxophilic post-transition metal onto transition metal aerogels, and achieved a non-noble metal aerogel Ni 97 Bi3 with unprecedented electrocatalytic activity and durability towards methanol oxidation. The trace amounts of Bi are atomically dispersed on the surface of the Ni 97 Bi 3 aerogel, which leads to an optimum shift of d-band center of Ni, large compressive strain of Bi, and greatly increased conductivity of the aerogel. The ensemble of the special electronic structure of Ni 97 Bi 3 and the unique three-dimensional porous morphology of aerogel endow the electrocatalyst with abundant active sites, efficient electron and mass transfer, low CO poisoning, and correspondingly outstanding comprehensive performance towards methanol oxidation. This work sheds light on designing high performance non-noble metal electrocatalysts.