Rhodium decorated stable platinum nickel nanowires for effective ethanol oxidation reaction

Abstract

Direct ethanol fuel cells (DEFCs) are considered one of the most promising energy resources for portable power devices. The current mainstream catalysts used for DEFCs are Pt-or Pd-based, which facilitate the partial oxidation of ethanol to CH 3 CHO or CH 3 COOH, but not the C-C bond cleavage, which is the inevitable path for the complete oxidation of ethanol. In addition, most noble catalysts are easily poisoned by CO, shortening their lifespan and stability, thus inhibiting the practical application of the catalysts. Herein, we report a type of ultrathin trimetallic Pt/Ni/Rh nanowires with various Rh contents toward the ethanol oxidation reaction (EOR), and the optimized Pt 6 Ni 2 Rh 3 /C demonstrates a high mass activity of 1.16 A mg Pt −1 as well as considerable stability, anti-CO poisoning ability, and complete ethanol oxidation selectivity. In addition, density functional theory calculations reveal that introducing Rh to bimetallic Pt/Ni endows the catalyst with a moderate intermediate adsorption capacity and enhanced C-C bond cleavage capacity, favorable for the complete oxidation of ethanol.

Review and Perspective of Nickel and Its Derived Catalysts for Different Electrochemical Synthesis Reactions in Alkaline Media for Hydrogen Production

“…During electrochemical oxidation, nickel forms an active redox pair Ni­(OH) 2 /NiOOH, which reduces the overpotential of the oxidation reaction . In recent years, nickel-based materials, such as NiOOH-CuO, NiFeOOH, Rh metal-modified Ni nanowires, and porous nickel electrodes − are among the most prevalent. The palladium-based nanoparticles are used as one of the most among the surface modifiers because of its high activity in alcohol oxidation to its corresponding acid products. − …”

Electrocatalytic Performance of Ethanol Oxidation on Ni and Ni/Pd Surface-Decorated Porous Structures Obtained by Molten Salts Deposition/Dissolution of Al-Ni Alloys

“…This is because during the oxidation process, nickel creates an electrochemically active redox pair Ni(OH) 2 /NiOOH, for which the oxidation reaction has a reduced overpotential [ 17 ]. Currently, the main trends in this field are the synthesis of nickel-based alloy materials, such as NiOOH-CuO oxide nanostructures [ 18 ] NiFeOOH [ 19 ], metal-modified Ni nanowires precious metals such as Rh [ 20 ] and porous nickel electrodes [ 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 ]. One of the most commonly used surface modifiers are palladium-based nanoparticles due to their highest activity in the oxidation of ethanol to acetate [ 25 , 26 , 27 ].…”

Studying Performance and Kinetic Differences between Various Anode Electrodes in Proton Exchange Membrane Water Electrolysis Cell

“…Sustainable energy systems always include various renewable energy sources, such as wind, solar, hydro, etc., but those renewable energy sources are intermittent within hours, days, or even seasons, which are nonreliable and cannot be directly connected to the current electric grid [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ]. Therefore, an ideal energy carrier that can mitigate the differences between energy supplies and demands is critical for developing sustainable energy systems [ 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 ]. Hydrogen accounts for about only 2% of the world energy consumption at present, while it has been proposed as one of the most promising energy carriers in the next few decades by most of the governments in the world to achieve carbon emission reductions [ 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 ], due to its high energy density, low weight, environmentally friendly, and abundant reserves in water [ 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 ].…”