Surfactant-Free Monodispersed Pd Nanoparticles Template for Core-Shell Pd@PdPt Nanoparticles as Electrocatalyst towards Methanol Oxidation Reaction (MOR)

Fulin Zheng; Tsz-Lung Kwong; Ka-Fu Yung

doi:10.3390/nano12020260

Surfactant-Free Monodispersed Pd Nanoparticles Template for Core-Shell Pd@PdPt Nanoparticles as Electrocatalyst towards Methanol Oxidation Reaction (MOR)

Nanomaterials (Basel). 2022 Jan 14;12(2):260. doi: 10.3390/nano12020260.

Authors

Fulin Zheng¹, Tsz-Lung Kwong¹, Ka-Fu Yung¹

Affiliation

¹ Department of Applied Biology and Chemical Technology, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong.

Abstract

An eco-friendly two-step synthetic method for synthesizing Pd@PdPt/CNTs nanoparticles was introduced and studied for the methanol oxidation reaction. The Pd@PdPt alloy core-shell structure was synthesized by preparing a surfactant-free monodispersed Pd/CNTs precursor through the hydrolysis of tetrachloropalladate (II) ion ([PdCl₄]^2-) in the presence of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and the subsequent hydrogen reduction and followed by a galvanic replacement reaction. This method opens up an eco-friendly, practical, and straightforward route for synthesizing monometallic or bimetallic nanoparticles with a clean surfactant-free electrocatalytic surface. It is quite promising for large-scale preparation. The Pd@PdPt/CNTs electrocatalyst demonstrated a high specific mass activity for methanol oxidation (400.2 mAmg_Pt^-1) and excellent stability towards direct methanol oxidation compared to its monometallic counterparts.

Keywords: PdPt alloy; core-shell; electrocatalysis; fuel cells; methanol oxidation; nanoparticles.

Grants and funding

PolyU5033/13P/Hong Kong Research Grants Council