One-pot synthesis of PdBi/reduced graphene oxide catalyst under microwave irradiation used for formic acid electrooxidation

Recent Advances in Anode Electrocatalysts for Direct Formic Acid Fuel Cells - Part I - Fundamentals and Pd Based Catalysts

Direct formic acid fuel cells (DFAFCs) have gained immense importance as a source of clean energy for portable electronic devices. It outperforms other fuel cells in several key operational and safety parameters. However, slow kinetics of the formic acid oxidation at the anode remains the main obstacle in achieving a high power output in DFAFCs. Noble metal-based electrocatalysts are effective, but are expensive and prone to CO poisoning. Recently, a substantial volume of research work have been dedicated to develop inexpensive, high activity and long lasting electrocatalysts. Herein, recent advances in the development of anode electrocatalysts for DFAFCs are presented focusing on understanding the relationship between activity and structure. This review covers the literature related to the electrocatalysts based on noble metals, non-noble metals, metal-oxides, synthesis route, support material, and fuel cell performance. The future prospects and bottlenecks in the field are also discussed at the end.

3D Taraxacum-like porous Pd nanocages with Bi doping: High-performance non-Pt electrocatalysts for ethanol oxidation reaction

Modifying the electronic structure and optimizing the geometric structure can expeditiously tune the electrocatalytic properties of catalysts, resulting in considerably enhanced electrocatalytic performance towards electrocatalytic oxidation of liquid fuels. We herein report a simple synthetic strategy to prepare Bi-doped 3D taraxacum-like Pd nanocages (NCs) composed of porous nanosheets, which possess high surface areas and strong synergistic effects. Notably, a trace of Bi diffuses into the lattice of Pd and increases the electronic effects of the surface of Pd, endowing PdBi-0.5 NCs/C with superior electrocatalytic performance towards ethanol oxidation reaction (EOR). The mass activity and specific activity of PdBi-0.5 NCs/C were 3494.8 mA mg_Pd^-1 and 10.37 mA cm^-2, being 4.08- and 4.82- fold enhancements as compared with commercial Pd/C, respectively. Moreover, the highly open porous 3D nanocages structure with rich active sites and defects can also facilitate the mass/electron transfer to favor the EOR kinetics.

The fabrication composite material of bimetallic micro/nanostructured palladium–platinum alloy and graphene on nickel foam for the enhancement of electrocatalytic activity

A composite of micro/nanostructured palladium–platinum alloy, reduced graphene oxide and polydopamine on nickel foam was obtained by a chemical immersion method and anneal method with high catalytic efficiency for the ethanol oxidation.

General synthesis of Pd-pm (pm = Ga, In, Sn, Pb, Bi) alloy nanosheet assemblies for advanced electrocatalysis

Owing to the synergistic compositional and structural advantages, ultrathin bimetallic nanosheet assembly nanostructures are widely recognized as advanced catalysts for alcohol electrooxidation reaction. Although numerous efforts have been made, the fabrication of well-defined ultrathin bimetallic nanosheet assemblies (NSAs) at large scale is still a tough challenge. Herein, a universal synthetic approach has been proposed to produce a series of well-defined Pd-pm (pm = Ga, In, Sn, Pb, Bi) alloy NSAs. Due to multiple merits of their unique 3D flower-like nanostructure and alloyed crystalline features, the self-supported Pd-pm NSAs show excellent electrocatalytic performance for the methanol oxidation reaction (MOR) and glycerol oxidation reaction (GOR). Given the eco-friendly synthetic concept, facile universality, and outstanding electrocatalytic properties of the generated bimetallic Pd-pm NSAs, we believe that this method could be employed for building more advanced nanocatalysts toward efficient electrocatalytic applications.