Efficient Electrocatalytic Oxidation of Formic Acid Using

formic acid using monometallic and bimetallic den-drimer-encapsulated nanoparticles (DENs). The results indicate that the Au147@Pt DENs exhibit better electro-catalytic activity and low CO formation. Theoretical calculations attribute the observed activity to the deformation of nanoparticle structure, slow dehydration of formic acid, and weak binding of CO on Au147@Pt surface. Subsequent experiments confirmed the theoretical predictions. In this Communication we show that electrochemicallysynthesized nanoparticles consisting of a 147-atom Au core and a Pt shell (Au147@Pt) facilitate the direct oxidation of formic acid to carbon dioxide. Specifically, experiments and first-principles calculations show that ∼2-nm-diamete