Mxene coupled over nitrogen-doped graphene anchoring palladium nanocrystals as an advanced electrocatalyst for the ethanol electrooxidation

Shuwen Li; Limin Zhao; Junhao Shu; Huilin Niu; Ruxia Li; Jinjuan Zhao; Honglei Yang; Jun Jin; Ruifa Jin

doi:10.1016/j.jcis.2021.11.142

Mxene coupled over nitrogen-doped graphene anchoring palladium nanocrystals as an advanced electrocatalyst for the ethanol electrooxidation

J Colloid Interface Sci. 2022 Mar 15:610:944-952. doi: 10.1016/j.jcis.2021.11.142. Epub 2021 Nov 25.

Authors

Shuwen Li¹, Limin Zhao², Junhao Shu³, Huilin Niu³, Ruxia Li³, Jinjuan Zhao³, Honglei Yang³, Jun Jin³, Ruifa Jin⁴

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Applied Organic Chemistry (Lanzhou University), Key Laboratory of Advanced Catalysis of Gansu Province, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China. Electronic address: lishw@lzu.edu.cn.
² Inner Mongolia Key Laboratory of Photoelectric Functional Materials, College of Chemistry and Life Sciences, Chifeng University, Chifeng 024000, China. Electronic address: Zhaolimin-801118@163.com.
³ State Key Laboratory of Applied Organic Chemistry (Lanzhou University), Key Laboratory of Advanced Catalysis of Gansu Province, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China.
⁴ Inner Mongolia Key Laboratory of Photoelectric Functional Materials, College of Chemistry and Life Sciences, Chifeng University, Chifeng 024000, China. Electronic address: Ruifajin@163.com.

PMID: 34863544
DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2021.11.142

Abstract

Development of good support materials is widely adopted as a valid strategy to fabricate high performance electrocatalysts for the ethanol oxidation reaction (EOR). In this study, the small diameter Ti₃C₂T_x MXene thin nanosheets inserted into three-dimensional nitrogen-doped grapheme (NG) was constructed via a facile hydrothermal method and employed as support materials for anchoring Pd nanocrystals (Pd/Ti₃C₂T_x@NG). The obtained-Pd/Ti₃C₂T_x@NG as EOR electrocatalyst in alkaline media outperforms the commercial Pd/C with better electrocatalytic activity, enhanced long-term stability and high CO tolerance. The Ti₃C₂T_x inserted into NG probably plays a key role for enhancing the properties of the synthesized-catalyst. Inserting Ti₃C₂T_x into NG allows the electrocatalysts to have high porosity, surface hydrophilicity, sufficient number of anchor sites for Pd nanocrystals and modifies its electronic properties, which can promote the electrocatalytic activity and durability. The enhanced EOR performance endows Pd/Ti₃C₂T_x@NG with great application potential in fuel cells as an anode catalyst. Furthermore, the prepared Ti₃C₂T_x@NG is also suitable in various desired applications, especially other oxidation reactions.

Keywords: Advanced support materials; Ethanol oxidation reaction; MXene; Nitrogen-doped Graphene; Palladium.