Electrooxidation of 2-propanol on Pt, Pd and Au in alkaline medium

Pd and Au are investigated as electrocatalysts for 2-propanol oxidation and compared with the conventional catalyst of Pt in alkaline medium. The current density for 2-propanol oxidation on Pd electrode is much higher than that on Pt electrode. The onset potential for 2-propanol oxidation on Pd electrode is more negative compared with that on Pt electrode. The results show that Pd is a good electrocatalyst for 2-propanol oxidation and the activity for the electrooxidation of 2-propanol is higher than Pt and Au in alkaline medium. Pd has higher electrocatalytic activity and better stability for the electrooxidation of 2-propanol. The present study shows a promising choice of Pd as effective electrocatalyst for 2-propanol electrooxidation in alkaline medium.     

Methanol and ethanol electrooxidation on Pt and Pd supported on carbon microspheres in alkaline media

Noble metal (Pt, Pd) electrocatalysts supported on carbon microspheres (CMS) are used for methanol and ethanol oxidation in alkaline media. The results show that noble metal electrocatalysts supported on carbon microspheres give better performance than that supported on carbon black. It is well known that palladium is not a good electrocatalyst for methanol oxidation, but it shows excellently higher activity and better steady-state electrolysis than Pt for ethanol electrooxidation in alkaline media. The results show a synergistic effect by the interaction between Pd and carbon microspheres. The Pd supported on carbon microspheres in this paper possesses excellent electrocatalytic properties and may be of great potential in direct ethanol fuel cells.     

Physical and electrochemical characterizations of nanostructured Pd/C and PdNi/C catalysts for methanol oxidation

Pd and PdNi nanoparticles supported on Vulcan XC-72 carbon were prepared by a chemical reduction with formic acid process. The catalysts were characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), cyclic voltammetry, and chronoamperometry. The results showed that the Pd and PdNi nanoparticles, which were uniformly dispersed on carbon, were 2–10 nm in diameters. The PdNi/C catalyst has higher electrocatalytic activity for methanol oxidation in alkaline media than a comparative Pd/C catalyst and shows great potential as less expensive electrocatalyst for methanol electrooxidation in alkaline media in direct methanol fuel cells.     

分级结构AgAu纳米合金用于高效电催化乙醇氧化

乙醇由于具有无毒、理论能量密度高、易存储等优点,被广泛用于直接醇类燃料电池研究.乙醇电氧化是直接醇类燃料电池中重要的阳极反应,通常涉及C1和C2反应路径.C1路径中乙醇分子主要转化成二氧化碳,但该过程涉及C-C键断裂,会有COad和CH(x)ad等中间体产生;C2路径中乙醇分子转化成乙醛,最终转化成乙酸或乙酸根.为提升...     

Electrocatalytic oxidation of formic acid on functional MWCNTs supported nanostructured Pd–Au catalyst

In this work, PdAu nanocatalysts with different weight ratio of Pd and Au supported on functional multi-walled carbon nanotubes (f-MWCNTs) were prepared, and their electrocatalytic activity for the oxidation of formic acid was also studied. The electrocatalysts were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The electrochemical results showed that the 4Pd1Au/f-MWCNTs (by weight) catalyst, exhibited distinctly higher activity and better stability in formic acid electrooxidation than the Pd/f-MWCNTs catalyst. The Nano-Au improves potentially the performance of Pd-based electrocatalysts for the direct formic acid fuel cells (DFAFCs).     

Pd nanowire arrays as electrocatalysts for ethanol electrooxidation

Highly ordered Pd nanowire arrays were prepared by template-electrodeposition method using anodic aluminum oxide template. The Pd nanowire arrays, in this paper, have high electrochemical active surface and show excellent catalytic properties for ethanol electrooxidation in alkaline media. The activity of Pd nanowire arrays for ethanol oxidation is not only higher that of Pd film, but also higher than that of commercial E-TEK PtRu(2:1 by weight)/C. The micrometer sized pores and channels in nanowire arrays act as structure units. They make liquid fuel diffuse into and products diffuse out of the catalysts layer much easier, therefore, the utilization efficiency of catalysts gets higher. Pd nanowire arrays are stable catalysts for ethanol oxidation. The nanowire arrays may be a great potential in direct ethanol fuel cells and ethanol sensors.     

Au Nanoparticles Modified with Pt,Ru and SnO2 as Electrocatalysts for Ethanol Oxidation Reaction in Acids

The anodic reaction in direct ethanol fuel cells (DEFCs), ethanol oxidation reaction (EOR) faces challenges, such as incomplete electrooxidation of ethanol and high cost of the most efficient electrocatalyst, Pt in acidic media at low temperature. In this study, core‐shell electrocatalysts with an Au core and Pt‐based shell (Au@Pt) are developed. The Au core size and Pt shell thickness play an important role in the EOR activity. The Au size of 2.8 nm and one layer of Pt provide the most optimized performance, having 6 times higher peak current density in contrast to commercial Pt/C. SnO₂ as a support also enhances the EOR activity of Au@Pt by 1.73 times. Further modifying the Pt shell with Ru atoms achieve the highest EOR current density that is 15 and 2.5 times of Pt/C and Au@Pt. Our results suggest the importance of surface modification in rational design of advanced electrocatalysts.     

碱性直接醇燃料电池非铂阳极催化剂

以纳米Pd,Pd-Ru,Au和Au-Ru为碱性直接醇燃料电池非Pt阳极催化剂,考察了其对甲醇、乙醇和乙二醇的电氧化性能.结果表明,Pd在酸中对醇电氧化的催化活性很低,但在碱中表现出较高的催化活性,起波电势约为0.4V(vsRHE);引入Ru助催化剂后,起波电势负移约0.15V;Pd-Ru对乙醇的电氧化表现出很高的活性,在0.3～0.4V电势范围内其活性为Pt-Ru的4倍.Au在酸中几乎不催化醇类分子的电氧化,但在碱中表现出一定的催化活性,在高于0.6V(vsRHE)的电势范围内可观察到醇氧化阳极电流.Au-Ru的催化活性高于Au,但起波电势没有明显负移,这可能表明当电势不足够正时醇分子在Au表面的吸附脱氢步骤是速率控制步骤.     

A Facile Strategy to PdCu Bimetallic Alloy Nanosponges with Highly Porous Features as a High‐Performance Electrocatalytic Activity for Ethanol Electrooxidation in an Alkaline Medium

Well‐defined three‐dimensional (3D) PdCu bimetallic alloy nanosponges (BANs) with highly porous structure was reported through a rapid and general strategy. Significantly, the as‐prepared PdCu BANs exhibited greatly enhanced activity and stability than commercial Pd/C catalyst towards ethanol electrooxidation in an alkaline medium. Pd₁Cu₁ shows higher active area and better electrocatalytic activity than Pd₁Cu₂ and Pd₂Cu₁. This result demonstrates the potential of applying these PdCu BANs as effective electrocatalysts for direct alcohol fuel cells (DAFCs).     

负载于刻蚀镍泡沫上钯纳米粒子作为乙醇氧化高性能电催化剂

发展具有高催化活性和高稳定性的非Pt阳极催化剂目前仍面临着巨大的挑战. 除了设计催化剂以外,设计合适的载体对提高电催化剂性能也具有重要意义. 在这篇论文中,作者报导了一种以混合酸(HNO₃+H₂SO₄+H₃PO₄+CH₃COOH) 腐蚀的镍泡沫负载Pd纳米粒子作为高性能电催化剂用于碱性条件下乙醇氧化. 因具有开放孔结构、快速电解质渗透能力及快速的电荷传输性能,这些镍泡沫负载的Pd纳米粒子显示了很好的电催化活性和循环稳定性,显示了该材料在乙醇阳极氧化具有较好的应用前景.     

Electrocatalytic activity of Pd nanoparticles supported on poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)-graphene hybrid for ethanol electrooxidation

The support materials play a critical role for the electrocatalytic oxidation of ethanol on precious metal catalysts in fuel cells. Here, we report the poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) combined with reduced graphene oxide (PEDOT-RGO) as the support of Pd nanoparticles (NPs) for ethanol electrooxidation in alkaline medium. The as-prepared Pd/PEDOT-RGO composite catalysts are characterized by Raman spectrometer, X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microcopy, and scanning electron microcopy. PEDOT-RGO composite with the porous structure facilitates the dispersion of Pd NPs with a smaller size leading to the increase of electrochemical active surface area. The electrochemical properties and electrocatalytic activities of Pd/PEDOT-RGO hybrid are evaluated by cyclic voltammetry, chronoamperometry, CO stripping voltammetry, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and Tafel analysis. The results suggest that Pd/PEDOT-RGO hybrid shows a higher electrocatalytic activity, a better long-term stability, and the poisoning tolerance for the ethanol electrooxidation than Pd on carbon black. EIS and Tafel analysis indicate that PEDOT-RGO improves the kinetics of ethanol electrooxidation on the Pd NPs and is an efficient support in fuel cells.     

Pd/Pt core–shell nanowire arrays as highly effective electrocatalysts for methanol electrooxidation in direct methanol fuel cells

Highly ordered Pd/Pt–core–shell nanowire arrays (Pd/Pt NWAs) have been prepared by anodized aluminum oxide (AAO) template-electrodeposition and magnetron sputtering methods. Pd/Pt NWA electrode shows a very high electrochemical active surface area and high electrocatalytic activity for the methanol electrooxidation in acid medium for direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs). The mass specific anodic peak current density is 756.7 mA mg⁻¹ Pt for the methanol oxidation on the Pd/Pt NWA electrode, an increase by a factor of four as compared to conventional E-TEK PtRu/C electrocatalysts. The mechanism of the significant enhancement of the Pd/Pt core/shell NWA nanostructure in the efficiency and electrocatalytic activity of Pt for the methanol electrooxidation in acid medium is discussed.     

通过表面钨掺杂大幅提升钯纳米立方体的燃料电池催化性能（英文）

发展兼具高活性和高稳定性的规整非铂电化学催化剂无论对于燃料电池的推广应用还是基础研究都具有重要意义.我们将钯纳米立方体(Pd nanocubes)作为晶种,使用表面掺杂的手段制备了一种表面结构规整的钨掺杂钯纳米立方体(W-doped Pd nanocubes).通过改变合成过程中所加入羰基钨前驱体的量以调控表面钨的原子比例,继而获得了钨原子比例分别为0%,0.8%,1.2%,1.5%的纳米立方体.所制W-doped Pd nanocubes/C催化剂在碱性条件下的氧还原反应中表现出优异性能,其中1.2%W-doped Pd nanocubes/C催化剂性能最佳,在0.9 VRHE时比活性达1.18 mA cm~(-2),质量活性达0.25 A mg~(-1)Pd,分别是商业Pt/C催化剂的4.7倍和2.5倍.研究表明,随着钨的掺杂量从0%增至1.5%,钨掺杂钯纳米立方体的d带中心从-2.49 eV逐渐降至-3.08 eV.同时,光电子能谱结果表明,随着钨掺杂量的增加,钯的3d峰位向低能逐渐偏移,说明了钨掺杂导致了电荷由钨转向钯.而d带中心的下移能够将更多的反键态拉下费米能级,继而导致反应中间体的吸附减弱.因此,由钨到钯的电荷转移导致的d带中心的下移,继而引起的反应中间体对催化剂的吸附作用变弱是氧还原催化活性增强的原因.而过高的W掺杂(1.5%)导致活性的降低也可以用Sabatier规则解释.在循环测试10000圈之后,1.2%W-doped Pd nanocubes/C催化剂的质量活性仅仅减少了14.8%,而商业Pt/C催化剂减少了40%,可见其具有极佳的稳定性.而且循环测试之后的透射电镜表征显示,相比于团聚严重的商业Pt/C催化剂,1.2%W-doped Pd nanocubes/C催化剂仍然分散良好,其形貌也几乎没有发生变化.此外,该催化剂对乙醇氧化反应也表现出优异的性能.在1.0 mol L~(-1)氢氧化钾和1.0 mol L~(-1)乙醇混合溶液中,测试峰电流达6.6 A mg~(-1)Pd,是Pd nanocubes/C催化剂的2.2倍,商业Pd/C催化剂的5.1倍.这同样得益于适量钨掺杂所导致的催化剂d带中心—下移引起的含碳中间体吸附的削弱.经过1000 s的稳定性测试,1.2%W-doped Pd nanocubes/C同样表现出高于商业Pd/C催化剂的稳定性.优异的氧还原和乙醇氧化性能表明所制1.2%W-doped Pd nanocubes/C是一种极具潜力的双功能燃料电池催化剂.     

Performance of Pd Electrocatalyst Supported on a Physical Mixture Indium Tin Oxide–carbon for Glycerol Electro–oxidation in Alkaline Media

Palladium electrocatalysts, supported on Vulcan XC 72 carbon and indium tin oxide (ITO) with different ratios, were prepared by borohydride reduction method and analysed for glycerol electro‐oxidation application in the presence of KOH solution. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X‐ray diffraction (XRD) techniques were used to characterize the particle size and crystal electrocatalyst structures, whereas their catalytic activities regarding the glycerol electro‐oxidation were evaluated by cyclic voltammetry (CV), chronoamperometry and tested in a direct alkaline glycerol fuel cell (DGFC) by electrochemical techniques. Micrographs results showed that the ITO presence promotes a large agglomeration of particles. Pd/C–ITO electrocatalysts showed peaks associated with the face‐centered cubic (fcc) structure of palladium and several others peaks associated with ITO used as support. Similar performance was found on all Pd/C–ITO electrocatalysts where measurements in CV were compared to Pd/C and Pd/ITO with Pd/C–ITO 50:50 chronoamperometry, presenting a better performance for glycerol electro‐oxidation. When using Pd/C–ITO 85:15 electrocatalyst and 1.0 mol L⁻¹ glycerol at 90 °C, the maximum power density found was 2,1 times higher than that obtained using Pd/C and Pd/CITO electrocatalysts. Therefore, the physical mixture of ITO and carbon, to be used as a support improves the electrocatalytic activity for glycerol oxidation reaction.     

High efficiency palladium catalysts supported on multi-wall carbon nanotubes synthesized with 1,3-bis(diphenylphosphino) propane for ethanol oxidation

In this paper, a facile and effective method is introduced to prepare palladium electrocatalysts for the oxidation of ethanol in alkaline media. According to the transmission electron microscopy measurement, the as-prepared Pd nanoparticles with the average particle size of 2.5 nm are evenly deposited on the surface of the multi-wall carbon nanotubes by using 1,3-bis(diphenylphosphino) propane as a special additive. Electrochemical measurements demonstrate that the as-prepared catalyst exhibits good electrocatalytic activity and stability for the electrooxidation of ethanol.     

Facile Synthesis of PdCu Echinus‐Like Nanocrystals as Robust Electrocatalysts for Methanol Oxidation Reaction

Exploiting high‐performance and inexpensive electrocatalysts for methanol electro‐oxidation is conductive to promoting the commercial application of direct methanol fuel cells. Here, we present a facile synthesis of echinus‐like PdCu nanocrystals (NCs) via a one‐step and template‐free method. The echinus‐like PdCu NCs possess numerous straight and long branches which can provide abundant catalytic active sites. Owing to the novel nanoarchitecture and electronic effect of the PdCu alloy, the echinus‐like PdCu NCs display high electrocatalytic performance toward methanol oxidation reaction in an alkaline medium. The mass activity of echinus‐like PdCu NCs is 1202.1 mA mg_Pd^?1, which is 3.7 times that of Pd/C catalysts. In addition, the echinus‐like structure, as a kind of three‐dimensional self‐supported nanoarchitecture, endows PdCu NCs with significantly enhanced stability and durability. Hence, the echinus‐like PdCu NCs hold prospect of being employed as electrocatalysts for direct alcohol fuel cells.     

利用石墨烯-炭黑组成的二元碳载体增强甲酸在钯催化剂上电化学氧化的活性

本文采用"一锅法"将氧化石墨烯(GO)、炭黑(C)和钯离子用NaBH4共还原,制备了石墨烯-炭黑二元载体(Gr-C)负载的钯催化剂(20%Pd/Gr-C),用于催化甲酸的电氧化反应.电化学测试结果表明,前驱体GO和C的质量比为3:7的Pd/Gr0.3C0.7催化剂催化活性最好,它的峰电流密度(102.14 mA mgPd-1)约为Pd/C催化剂(34.40 mA mgPd-1)的3倍,为钯/石墨烯催化剂(Pd/Gr,38.50 mA mgPd-1)的2.6倍.甲酸在Pd/Gr0.3C0.7催化剂电极直接氧化时的峰电位比Pd/C催化剂的峰电位负移约120 mV,比Pd/Gr催化剂的峰电位负移约70 mV.采用透射电子显微镜(TEM)、扫描电子显微镜(SEM)、X射线衍射(XRD)、X射线光电子能谱(XPS)、拉曼光谱、电感耦合等离子发射光谱(ICP-AES)等手段对催化剂进行了表征.从SEM图像可以观察到,球形的炭黑团簇聚集在具有褶皱的石墨烯面上,形成了炭黑团簇/石墨烯三维立体结构,有效地抑制了相邻石墨烯层在范德华力作用下的吸引聚集和堆叠造成的石墨烯表面积减小,减小了单层石墨烯叠合成为多层石墨所造成的导电性损失,避免了相邻石墨烯片叠合形成封闭空间,有助于反应物和产物分子的运动.载体的三维结构使反应物分子更容易到达钯纳米粒子,有利于催化性能的提高.XPS结果也证实了二元Gr-C载体对Pd催化的促进作用.Pd/Gr0.3C0.7催化剂的Pd 3d5/2峰发生了右移,表明Pd 3d电子结合能正移,Pd 3d电子云密度降低.具有较低的3d电子云密度的Pd不易与甲酸氧化过程中吸附的中间体(COOH)ads结合,钯催化剂上(COOH)ads表面覆盖率降低,从而使甲酸更容易直接脱氢氧化生成CO2,有利于甲酸通过直接途径进行电化学氧化.与Pd/C,Pd/Gr相比,Pd/Gr0.3C0.7催化剂对甲酸电氧化有最好的催化活性.Pd/Gr0.3C0.7催化剂优异的催化活性可归因于其内在的三维纳米结构:炭黑团簇有效地抑制了石墨烯纳米片的聚集,保持了其大的比表面积和高导电性,促进了反应物和产物分子的运动.此外,Pd纳米粒子与二元载体之间的强相互作用降低了Pd的3d电子云密度,使甲酸氧化主要经直接途径进行.本文证实了钯金属和石墨烯-炭黑二元载体之间的强相互作用,提供了简单和高性价比的方法以提高钯基催化剂的活性,有利于工业化的应用.     

High‐Activity PtRuPd/C Catalyst for Direct Dimethyl Ether Fuel Cells

Dimethyl ether (DME) has been considered as a promising alternative fuel for direct‐feed fuel cells but lack of an efficient DME oxidation electrocatalyst has remained the challenge for the commercialization of the direct DME fuel cell. The commonly studied binary PtRu catalyst shows much lower activity in DME than methanol oxidation. In this work, guided by density functional theory (DFT) calculation, a ternary carbon‐supported PtRuPd catalyst was designed and synthesized for DME electrooxidation. DFT calculations indicated that Pd in the ternary PtRuPd catalyst is capable of significantly decreasing the activation energy of the C? O and C? H bond scission during the oxidation process. As evidenced by both electrochemical measurements in an aqueous electrolyte and polymer‐electrolyte fuel cell testing, the ternary catalyst shows much higher activity (two‐fold enhancement at 0.5 V in fuel cells) than the state‐of‐the‐art binary Pt₅₀Ru₅₀/C catalyst (HiSPEC 12100).     

TiO2纳米棒载Pd催化剂的制备及其对甲酸的电催化氧化

利用水热合成和无机溶胶法,分别制备了具有棒状(TiO2-R)和无规则结构(TiO2-I)的锐钛矿相TiO2,并以之为载体制备得到Pd/TiO2电催化剂.循环伏安测试显示,与无规则TiO2相比,具有棒状结构的TiO2载Pd催化剂对甲酸氧化的电催化性能提高了70%;计时电流测试显示,运行3000 s后,甲酸在棒状TiO2载Pd催化剂上的氧化电流是无规则TiO2载Pd催化剂的16倍.其原因可能与TiO2纳米棒拥有更好的电子传导性且表面拥有较多的活性含氧基团有关,从而能够有效提高催化剂对甲酸氧化的电催化活性和抗毒化性能.     

Performance study of palladium modified platinum anode in direct ethanol fuel cells: A green power source

The direct ethanol fuel cell is a green and renewable power source alternative to fossil fuels and produces less emissions compared to a combustion engine. Ethanol can be generated in great quantity from renewable resources like biomass through a fermentation process. Bio-generated ethanol is thus attractive fuel since growing crops for biofuels absorbs much of the carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere from the oxidation of ethanol. The platinum and palladium were co-deposited on graphite substrate by the galvanostatic technique and employed as anode catalyst for ethanol electrooxidation. The information on surface morphology, structural characteristics and bulk composition of the catalyst was obtained using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectroscopy. The cyclic voltammetry (CV) were used for the estimation of the electrochemically active surface area (ECSA) of the synthesized catalysts in alkaline medium. The CVs for ethanol oxidation revealed superior catalytic activity of Pt–Pd/C compared to Pd/C and Pt/C. The effect of OH^? on ethanol oxidation at Pt–Pd/C catalyst was studied using cyclic voltammetry, quasisteady-state polarization, chronoamperometry, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). The Pt–Pd/C catalyst shows good stability and enhanced electrocatalytic activity is ascribed to the synergistic effect of higher electrochemical surface area, preferred OH^? adsorption on the surface and palladium ad-atom contribution on the alloyed surface.