Pd/Cu bimetallic nanoparticles supported on graphene nanosheets: Facile synthesis and application as novel electrocatalyst for ethanol oxidation in alkaline media

Carbon Supported Oxide-Rich Pd-Cu Bimetallic Electrocatalysts for Ethanol Electrooxidation in Alkaline Media Enhanced by Cu/CuOx

“…The XRD patterns do not show any peak corresponding to the Cu [75], CuO [49] or Cu 2 O [58]. These indicated that Cu(0), CuO and Cu 2 O have not existed in the form of crystals as the other studies described [29,39]. All the diffraction peaks of the oxide-rich PdCu/C catalysts shift toward higher 2θ values compared with the corresponding reflection of Pd/C catalyst.…”

“…The peaks (A 1 , B 1 ) at the potential range from´0.8 to´0.5 V versus Hg/HgO are assigned to the desorption/adsorption of hydrogen [91]. The conspicuous peak (A 2 ) of the catalysts at´0.4 V is due to the absorption of OH´on the electrocatalyst surface while those peaks (A 3 , B 2 ) from´0.4 to 0.1V correspond to the oxidation of surface metal and the reduction of thus formed oxides [92] [39] indicated that a negative shifted absorption peak of OH´would give rise to a greater amount of OH´and OH ads species to react with CH 3 CO ads in ethanol electrooxidation process, which leads to higher electroactivity and better tolerance to intermediate species by refreshing surface active sites of Pd. It is generally accepted that the Pd-Cu alloy can boost catalytic activity for EOR compared to monometallic Pd or Cu catalyst.…”

“…The peaks (A2) of the Pd/C, oxide-rich Pd0.6Cu0.4/C, oxide-rich Pd0.7Cu0.3/C, oxiderich Pd0.8Cu0.2/C, oxide-rich Pd0.9Cu0.1/C and oxide-rich Pd0.95Cu0.05/C were at −0.42, −0.37, −0.40, −0.44, −0.47, and −0.45 V, respectively. In a former investigation, Dong and his coworkers [39] indicated that a negative shifted absorption peak of OH − would give rise to a greater amount of OH − and OHads species to react with CH3COads in ethanol electrooxidation process, which leads to higher electroactivity and better tolerance to intermediate species by refreshing surface active sites of Pd. The linear sweep voltammetry (LSV) curves of the Pd/C and oxide-rich PdCu/C catalysts in 1.0 M NaOH and 1.0 M CH3CH2OH solution are shown in Figure 6.…”

“…Figure 7 displays the cyclic voltammograms (CV) of the Pd/C and oxide-rich Pd0.9Cu0.1/C catalysts in 1.0 M NaOH and 1.0 M CH3CH2OH solution. The peak in the forward scan corresponds to ethanol oxidation, while the peak in the reverse scan is mainly assigned to the removal of incompletely oxidized carbonaceous species rather than the oxidation of freshly chemisorbed species coming from ethanol adsorption [39]. The forward anodic peak current density (If) and the reverse anodic peak current density (Ib) of Pd/C and oxide-rich Pd0.9Cu0.1/C are shown in Table 3.…”

A Facile Synthesis of Hollow Palladium/Copper Alloy Nanocubes Supported on N-Doped Graphene for Ethanol Electrooxidation Catalyst

“…Unfortunately, the low reaction activity and difficult C-C bond breaking of ethanol electrooxidation are the major drawbacks hindering DEFCs' practical applications [7,8]. Currently, the most effective catalysts used for ethanol electrooxidation are Pt-based materials, which are high-cost and also insufficient in overcoming both the low catalyst activity and difficulty of breaking C-C bond of ethanol.…”