A Facile One‐Pot Synthesis and Enhanced Formic Acid Oxidation of Monodisperse Pd–Cu Nanocatalysts

Abstract

Highly monodisperse spherical 3 nm Pd-Cu alloy nanoparticles (NPs) were synthesized in high yield through the coreduction of [Pd(acac)(2)] (acac=acetylacetonate) and [Cu(acac)(2)] in nonhydrolytic solutions by using trioctylamine and oleic acid. The relative compositions of Pd and Cu could be tuned by controlling the molar ratios between the metal precursors in the raw solutions. The carbon-supported Pd-Cu NPs (Pd-Cu/C) were chemically dealloyed by acetic acid washing, which resulted in the formation of porous structures. The prepared Pd-Cu/C catalysts exhibited at least threefold enhancement of Pd mass activities compared with a commercial Pd/C catalyst toward formic acid oxidation in an acidic medium, and also showed outstanding electrocatalytic stabilities. The improved electrocatalytic properties of the Pd-Cu NPs are attributed to the presence of a large number of active sites on their surfaces owing to their small particle sizes and chemically dealloyed porous structures.

Synthesis of Ultrathin PdCu Alloy Nanosheets Used as a Highly Efficient Electrocatalyst for Formic Acid Oxidation

“…These optimum ratios are similar to those of PdCu nanotripods (Cu/Pd = 0.15) for FAO, or PdCu nanoparticles (Cu/Pd = 0.18) for methanol oxidation . In the PdCu alloy catalyzed FAO, Pd is the active catalyst, and the presence of Cu can facilitate the adsorption and oxidation of intermediates, especially CO . Therefore, the improved catalytic performance in FAO was obtained.…”

“…The high catalytic activity of our EN‐treated ultrathin PdCu alloy nanosheets can be attributed to the following aspects: i) the ultrathin morphology of PdCu alloy nanosheets providing high ECSA, ii) the electronic structure of PdCu alloy nanosheets enhancing the catalytic activity compared to Pd, iii) the synergistic effect between Pd and Cu leading to the high catalytic activity,[11,17,27a–d] and iv) the EN‐treatment on PdCu alloy nanosheets removing the inert oleic acid and simultaneously enhancing their catalytic activity.…”

Retraction: Nanoporous PdCu Near‐Surface Alloy for Nonenzymatic Glucose Biosensing

“…Therefore, the development of suitable electrocatalysts for nonenzymatic glucose detection is still challenging. Palladium nanostructures have attracted great interest owing to their wide applications in diverse fields, such as hydrogen storage, [35,36] the electrochemical oxidation of formic acid and methanol, [37][38][39][40] the purification of automotive exhaust, [41] etc. Quite recently, nanostructured Pd has also been demonstrated to be an excellent electrocatalyst for glucose oxidation and for the fabrication of glucose biosensors.…”

Shape‐Controlled Synthesis of Monodisperse PdCu Nanocubes and Their Electrocatalytic Properties

“…Among the various bimetallic nanocrystals, PdCu nanocrystals have been intensively explored as catalytic materials for a variety of reactions such as generation of hydrogen, combustion, and CO oxidation. [16,17] Such noble-metal-non-noble-metal alloy nanocrystals might be the best economical catalyst with the desired performance. [18,19] Moreover, non-noble metallic Cu has received significant attention as an industrially important material and is considered as the ideal compromise between cost and excellent properties.…”

“…When the molar ratio of Pd/Cu was changed to 1:3 or 3, only spherical nanoparticles were obtained, which has been reported previously. [17] To evaluate the electrocatalytic ORR activities of the PdCu nanocubes, the PdCu nanocubes were loaded onto a carbon support (Vulcan XC-72R). OAm was removed by immersing the nanocubes in acetic acid for 10 h at 70 8C.…”