Preparation and characterization of bimetallic Pt^Ni-P/CNT catalysts via galvanic displacement reaction on electrolessly-plated Ni-P/CNT

Abstract Platinum-based bimetallic catalysts have broad applications in polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells and water splitting. In this work, galvanic displacement reaction was employed to prepare Pt^Ni-P/CNT catalysts using electrolessly-plated Ni-P/CNT. These catalysts were extensively characterized by scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Catalytic activities towards methanol oxidation and hydrogen evolution reactions were evaluated and benchmarked with a commercial Pt/C catalyst. Uniform dispersion of Pt on Ni-P particles led to high Pt utilization, and the electrochemical surface area of Pt^Ni-P/CNT with 12.1% Pt loading was found to be 126 m 2  g −1 , higher than that of a commercial Pt/C (77.9 m 2  g −1 ). The Tafel slopes for the Pt^Ni-P/CNT catalysts were also found to be smaller than that of Pt/C indicating faster kinetics for hydrogen evolution reaction.