Atomically Ordered PtBi2 Intermetallic as Catalyst for Ultrahigh Efficiency and Durability in Methanol Electro-Oxidation

Pt-based nanomaterials are deemed as state-of-the-art electrocatalysts for methanol oxidation reaction (MOR) in fuel cell. However, it still suffers from the low mass activity and poisonous effect of *CO intermediate. Herein, an efficient and durable cubic PtBi₂ intermetallic (c-PtBi₂ IMCs) catalysts are developed, enabling an ultrahigh mass activity of 13.85 A mg_Pt⁻¹ and specific activity of 33.45 mA cm⁻² (8.5 and 13.3 times higher than those of commercial Pt/C), with negligible activity decay after 50 h of potentiostatic electrolysis. In situ Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy results demonstrate the weakened adsorption of *CO and significantly enhanced *OH adsorption on c-PtBi₂ IMCs accelerates the detoxication of *CO, which is crucial to the superb MOR performance of c-PtBi₂. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations elucidate that Bi integration into the electronic structure of Pt optimizes the adsorption of *OH species while concurrently reducing the adsorption of *CO. Consequently, the MOR on c-PtBi₂ proceeds via a smooth pathway with a small Gibbs free energy barrier. Moreover, cubic PtBi₂ exhibits promising potential as a versatile fuel cell anode catalyst for the oxidation of various liquid fuels. This work presents a marvelous MOR catalyst that ensures ultra-highly efficient and durable methanol electro-oxidation.