Newly Developed Stepwise Electroless Deposition Enables a Remarkably Facile Synthesis of Highly Active and Stable Amorphous Pd Nanoparticle Electrocatalysts for Oxygen Reduction Reaction

Abstract

This paper reports on highly active and stable amorphous Pd nanoparticle electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction. The amorphous catalysts were synthesized by a remarkably facile and quick electroless deposition process newly developed in this study (process time <5 min). An electrode substrate (glassy carbon, carbon cloth) was sequentially dipped for 10 s into two separate solutions of a reducing agent (sodium hypophosphite (NaH2PO2)) and Pd ions to deposit amorphous Pd nanoparticles containing phosphorus (Pd-P). By repeating the deposition cycles, the specific and mass activities of the Pd nanoparticles can be actively tuned. Owing to the nanoscale amorphous nature, the obtained Pd-P nanoparticle electrocatalysts exhibited superior specific and mass activities compared with crystalline Pd nanoparticles synthesized by another reducing agent (N2H4) and commercial Pt-loaded carbon (Pt/C) and Pd-loaded carbon (Pd/C). The specific and mass activities of the amorphous Pd-P nanoparticles were over 4.5 times and 2.6 times higher than previously reported values of Pd and Pt catalysts.

Highly stable PtP alloy nanotube arrays as a catalyst for the oxygen reduction reaction in acidic medium

“…9–13 A typical example is the use of Ni 2 P as a cocatalyst for Pd/C to form a Pd–Ni 2 P/C nano-electrocatalyst which not only shows remarkable catalytic activity, but also exhibits impressive corrosion resistance in acidic medium. 9 In addition, Tang et al demonstrated that alloying Pd with P can lead to a decrease in the adsorption strength and adsorption amount of CO. 10 In this regard, alloying Pt with the nonmetallic element phosphorus seems to hold great promise to address the stability limitations of Pt-based catalysts for the ORR.…”

Ordered PdCu‐Based Nanoparticles as Bifunctional Oxygen‐Reduction and Ethanol‐Oxidation Electrocatalysts

“…[20,21] Such disordered structure suffers from low stability in the corrosive electrochemical environment and only moderate activity improvement. [22,23] From the structural perspective,t he ordered intermetallic phases,w ith definite composition and structure,c an provide the predictable control over structural, geometric, and electronic effects for catalysis optimization, which cannot be afforded by the widely created conventional alloys. [24][25][26] Especially,t he ordered intermetallic nanocrystals usually exist the strong electron interaction and the change of the bond length and electron configuration, which could significantly improve their catalytic activities for both ORR and oxidation reactions of fuels.…”

Sonochemical Synthesis of Two Dimensional C3N4 Nanosheets Supported Palladium Composites and Their Electrocatalytic Activity for Oxygen Reduction and Methanol Oxidation Reaction

“…The improved durability might be attributed to the strong interaction between the 2D C 3 N 4 nanosheets and Pd nanoparticles, which made Pd less vulnerable to dissolution, and aggregation compared to Pd nanoparticles. [37,38] To further understand the intrinsic activity of the C 3 N 4 /Pd composites, we estimated the ECSA of C 3 N 4 /Pd composites and commercial Pt/C by integrating the amount of charges in the corresponding CV curves [39,40] ( Figure S3). The results showed that C 3 N 4 /Pd composites and commercial Pt/C had an ECSA of 58 m 2 /g Pd , 56 m 2 /g Pt ( Figure 5A), respectively.…”