Highly active carbon supported ternary PdSnPtx (x=0.1-0.7) catalysts for ethanol electro-oxidation in alkaline and acid media

Xiaoguang Wang; Fuchun Zhu; Yongwei He; Mei Wang; Zhonghua Zhang; Zizai Ma; Ruixue Li

doi:10.1016/j.jcis.2016.01.068

Highly active carbon supported ternary PdSnPtx (x=0.1-0.7) catalysts for ethanol electro-oxidation in alkaline and acid media

J Colloid Interface Sci. 2016 Apr 15:468:200-210. doi: 10.1016/j.jcis.2016.01.068. Epub 2016 Jan 28.

Authors

Xiaoguang Wang¹, Fuchun Zhu², Yongwei He³, Mei Wang³, Zhonghua Zhang⁴, Zizai Ma³, Ruixue Li³

Affiliations

¹ Laboratory of Advanced Materials and Energy Electrochemistry, Research Institute of Surface Engineering, Taiyuan University of Technology, Taiyuan 030024, China. Electronic address: wangxiaoguang@tyut.edu.cn.
² Laboratory of Advanced Materials and Energy Electrochemistry, Research Institute of Surface Engineering, Taiyuan University of Technology, Taiyuan 030024, China; State Key Lab of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, Department of Chemistry, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China.
³ Laboratory of Advanced Materials and Energy Electrochemistry, Research Institute of Surface Engineering, Taiyuan University of Technology, Taiyuan 030024, China.
⁴ School of Materials Science and Engineering, Shandong University, Jingshi Road 17923, Jinan 250061, China.

PMID: 26851453
DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2016.01.068

Abstract

A series of trimetallic PdSnPtx (x=0.1-0.7)/C catalysts with varied Pt content have been synthesized by co-reduction method using NaBH4 as a reducing agent. These catalysts were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), cyclic voltammetry (CV) and chronoamperometry (CA). The electrochemical results show that, after adding a minor amount of Pt dopant, the resultant PdSnPtx/C demonstrated more superior catalytic performance toward ethanol oxidation as compared with that of mono-/bi-metallic Pd/C or PdSn/C in alkaline solution and the PdSnPt0.2/C with optimal molar ratio reached the best. In acid solution, the PdSnPt0.2/C also depicted a superior catalytic activity relative to the commercial Pt/C catalyst. The possible enhanced synergistic effect between Pd, Sn/Sn(O) and Pt in an alloyed state should be responsible for the as-revealed superior ethanol electro-oxidation performance based upon the beneficial electronic effect and bi-functional mechanism. It implies the trimetallic PdSnPt0.2/C with a low Pt content has a promising prospect as anodic electrocatalyst in fields of alkali- and acid-type direct ethanol fuel cells.

Keywords: Alkali and acid; Electro-oxidation; Ethanol; Palladium–tin; Platinum.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't