Platinum nanomaterials provide an excellent catalytic activity for diverse applications and given its high cost, platinum alloys and bi-metallic nanomaterials with transition metals are appealing for low cost and catalytic specificity. Here the synthesis of hierarchically porous Pt–Cu macrobeams and macrotubes templated from Magnus’s salt derivative needles is demonstrated. The metal composition was controlled through the combination of [PtCl4]2− with [Pt(NH3)4]2+ and [Cu(NH3)4]2+ ions in different ratios to form salt needle templates. Polycrystalline Pt–Cu porous macrotubes and macrobeams 10’ s–100’ s μm long with square cross-sections were formed through chemical reduction with dimethylamine borane (DMAB) and NaBH4, respectively. Specific capacitance as high as 20.7 F/g was demonstrated with cyclic voltammetry. For macrotubes and macrobeams synthesized from Pt2−:Pt2+:Cu2+ salt ratios of 1:1:0, 2:1:1, 3:1:2, and 1:0:1, DMAB reduced 3:1:2 macrotubes demonstrated the highest ethanol oxidation peak currents of 12.0 A/g at 0.5 mV/s and is attributed to the combination of a highly porous structure and platinum enriched surface. Salt templates with electrochemical reduction are suggested as a rapid, scalable, and tunable platform to achieve a wide range of 3-dimensional porous metal, alloy, and multi-metallic nanomaterials for catalysis, sensor, and energy storage applications.
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