The commercial feasibility of polymer electrolyte fuel cells (PEFCs) passes by the development of Pt-based, O 2 -reduction catalysts with greater activities and/or lower Pt-contents, as well as an improved stability. In an effort to tackle these requirements, unsupported bimetallic Pt-Ni nanoparticles (NPs) interconnected in the shape of nanochain networks (aerogels) were synthesized using a simple one-step reduction and gel formation process in aqueous solution. The products of this novel synthetic route were characterized by X-ray absorption spectroscopy to elucidate the materials' structure. Using electrochemical experiments, we probed the surface composition of the as-synthesized aerogels and of equivalent materials exposed to acid, and concluded that a Ni-(hydr)oxide side phase is present in the aerogel with a larger Ni-concentration. Regardless of this initial surface composition, the Pt-Ni aerogels feature a ≈3-fold increase of surface-specific ORR activity when compared to a commercial platinum-on-carbon catalyst, reaching the mass-specific requirement for application in automotive PEFCs. 1 to account for the large overpotential of the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). Thus, Pt contributes significantly to the fuel cell system cost, and progress to reduce its loading is crucial to meet the long-term PEFC cost target of 40 $/kW set by the U. S. Department of Energy (DOE).2 One approach to reduce this excessive Pt-loading relies on increasing the catalysts' ORR activity, e.g. by alloying platinum with other metals like Ni, Cu and Co, to form materials which show up to one order of magnitude higher mass-specific activity than commercial Pt/C catalysts.3 On the other hand, these carbon-supported materials suffer from significant carbonand Pt-corrosion during the standard operation of PEFCs, gradually compromising their efficiency and reliability. 4 To partially overcome stability issues, research focuses on unsupported materials (e.g. Ptcoated Ni, Co or Cu nanowires 5-7 ) besides extended metal surfaces (e.g. 3 M nanostructured thin film catalysts 8 ) or alternative supports (e.g. conductive metal oxides 9-12 ). Naturally, those materials should be processable into catalytic layer architectures that provide reactant and product diffusion pathways similar to those in conventional Pt/C electrodes to guarantee high catalyst utilization and PEFC performance.
13To meet the requirements mentioned above, un-supported bimetallic electrocatalysts with high surface area (up to ≈80 m 2 /g metal ) and nanochain network structure, referred to as aerogels, have been synthesized. [14][15][16] The synthetic routes to prepare such materials vary, but generally involve the use of stabilizing surfactants and/or organic solvents [17][18][19] that can poison the catalyst's surface and decrease its activity. In contrast to those approaches, our groups have developed a facile one-step synthesis for mono-and bimetallic aerogels based on the reduction of metal salts by NaBH 4 in aqueous solution without addition of stabilizing surfac...