Pd3Co1 Alloy Nanocluster on the MWCNT Catalyst for Efficient Formic Acid Electro-Oxidation

Pingping Yang; Li Zhang; Xuejiao Wei; Shiming Dong; Yuejun Ouyang

doi:10.3390/nano12234182

Pd₃Co₁ Alloy Nanocluster on the MWCNT Catalyst for Efficient Formic Acid Electro-Oxidation

Nanomaterials (Basel). 2022 Nov 25;12(23):4182. doi: 10.3390/nano12234182.

Authors

Pingping Yang¹, Li Zhang¹, Xuejiao Wei¹, Shiming Dong¹, Yuejun Ouyang¹

Affiliation

¹ College of Chemistry and Materials Engineering, Huaihua University, Huaihua 418008, China.

Abstract

In this study, the Pd₃Co₁ alloy nanocluster from a multiwalled carbon nanotube (MWCTN) catalyst was fabricated in deep eutectic solvents (DESs) (referred to Pd₃Co₁/CNTs). The catalyst shows a better mass activity towards the formic acid oxidation reaction (FAOR) (2410.1 mA mg_Pd^-1), a better anti-CO toxicity (0.36 V) than Pd/CNTs and commercial Pd/C. The improved performance of Pd₃Co₁/CNTs is attributed to appropriate Co doping, which changed the electronic state around the Pd atom, lowered the d-band of Pd, formed a new Pd-Co bond act at the active sites, affected the adsorption of the toxic intermediates and weakened the dissolution of Pd; moreover, with the assistance of DES, the obtained ultrafine Pd₃Co₁ nanoalloy exposes more active sites to enhance the dehydrogenation process of the FAOR. The study shows a new way to construct a high-performance Pd-alloy catalyst for the direct formic acid fuel cell.

Keywords: Pd3Co1 alloy nanocluster; deep eutectic solvents; direct formic acid fuel cell; formic acid oxidation; multiwalled carbon nanotubes.

Grants and funding

This research was funded by the Natural Science Foundation of Hunan Province (2020JJ4073), Hunan Provincial general project of Education Department (21C0645). Key project of Huaihua University (HHUY2021-03).