Ultrathin IrRu nanowire networks with high performance and durability for the hydrogen oxidation reaction in alkaline anion exchange membrane fuel cellsElectronic supplementary information (ESI) available: Fig. S1, Fig. S2, Fig. S3, Fig. S4, Fig. S5, Fig. S6, Table S1 and Table S2. See DOI: 10.1039/c8ta07414c

Developing highly active and stable HOR catalysts still remains a challenging task for alkaline anion exchange membrane fuel cells. A carbon supported IrRu nanowire catalyst with different compositions was prepared by a soft template method, involving the chemical reduction of iridium and ruthenium complexes using sodium borohydride. The Ir 1 Ru 1 ultrathin nanowires exhibit higher hydrogen oxidation activity and better stability under alkaline conditions in comparison with commercial Pt/C. An electrochemical test demonstrates that the mass and specific activities at an over potential of 50 mV of Ir 1 Ru 1 NWs/C are 4.2 and 3.8 times that of commercial Pt/C, respectively. Furthermore, the synthesized Ir 1 Ru 1 NWs display better stability against potential cycling due to their unique interconnected structure. After 2000 potential cycles, the electrochemically active surface area (ECSA) of Ir 1 Ru 1 NWs/C reduces only by 2.27%, and the mass activity@50 mV is reduced by 8.21%. The single cell used the as-prepared Ir 1 Ru 1 NWs/C as the anode catalyst and Pt/C as the cathode catalyst, and the AAEMFC shows a peak power density of more than 485 mW cm −2 , which is about 1.66 fold that of the AAEMFC using commercial Pt/C as the anode catalyst (292 mW cm −2 ). These results suggest that carbon supported ultrathin Ir 1 Ru 1 NW catalysts can be used as substitutes for commercial Pt/C for the HOR in alkaline media for alkaline anion exchange membrane fuel cell application. Developing highly active and stable HOR catalysts still remains a challenging task for alkaline anion exchange membrane fuel cells.