Bi(OH)3/PdBi Composite Nanochains as Highly Active and Durable Electrocatalysts for Ethanol Oxidation

Xiaolei Yuan; Yong Zhang; Muhan Cao; Tong Zhou; Xiaojing Jiang; Jinxing Chen; Fenglei Lyu; Yong Xu; Jun Luo; Qiao Zhang; Yadong Yin

doi:10.1021/acs.nanolett.9b01843

Bi(OH)₃/PdBi Composite Nanochains as Highly Active and Durable Electrocatalysts for Ethanol Oxidation

Nano Lett. 2019 Jul 10;19(7):4752-4759. doi: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.9b01843. Epub 2019 Jun 17.

Authors

Xiaolei Yuan¹, Yong Zhang¹, Muhan Cao¹, Tong Zhou², Xiaojing Jiang¹, Jinxing Chen^{1

3}, Fenglei Lyu¹, Yong Xu¹, Jun Luo², Qiao Zhang¹, Yadong Yin³

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Functional Nano and Soft Materials (FUNSOM), Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Carbon-Based Functional Materials and Devices, SWC for Synchrotron Radiation Research , Soochow University , 199 Ren'ai Road , Suzhou 215123 , Jiangsu , People's Republic of China.
² Institute for New Energy Materials and Low-Carbon Technologies, School of Materials Science and Engineering , Tianjin University of Technology , Tianjin 300384 , China.
³ Department of Chemistry , University of California-Riverside , Riverside , California 92521 , United States.

PMID: 31189063
DOI: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.9b01843

Abstract

Developing high-performance electrocatalysts for the ethanol oxidation reaction (EOR) is critical to the commercialization of direct ethanol fuel cells. However, current EOR catalysts suffer from high cost, low activity, and poor durability. Here we report the preparation of PdBi-Bi(OH)₃ composite nanochains with outstanding EOR activity and durability. The incorporation of Bi can tune the electronic structure and downshift the d-band center of Pd while the surface decoration of Bi(OH)₃ can facilitate the oxidative removal of CO and other carbonaceous intermediates. As a result, the nanochains manifest an exceptional mass activity (5.30 A mg_Pd^-1, 4.6-fold higher than that of commercial Pd/C) and outstanding durability (with a retained current density of ∼1.00 A mg_Pd^-1 after operating for 20 000 s). More importantly, the nanochain catalyst can be reactivated, and negligible activity loss has been observed after operating for 200 000 s with periodic reactivation, making it one of the best EOR catalysts.

Keywords: EOR; PdBi nanochains; bismuth hydroxide; long-term stability; necklacelike structure.