Pdm/Rgo with Enhanced Catalytic Activity for Electrooxidation of Formic Acid

With the ever-increasing environmental problems and the up-coming depletion of fossil fuels, the direct formic acid fuel cells (DFAFCs) have aroused wide research interests in recent years[1-2]. There are several advantages of formic acid such as higher theoretical open circuit potential, lower crossover through the membrane, nontoxicity and uninflammability at room temperature, thus the DFAFCs are thought to be the one of the most promising power sources for portable electronic devices [3]. However, for commercial application, one of the essential issues is the design of effective and low cost anode catalysts for DFAFCs. Pd-based catalyst seems to be the best candidate for its lower cost and excellent catalytic activity toward formic acid electro-oxidation compared to Pt-based catalysts [4-5]. However, the stability of Pd is not satisfactory and its activity needs further improvement for commercialization.

In this work, PdM (M = Ni, Co, Ce, Cr, Ir) catalysts dispersed on reduced graphite oxide (RGO) were prepared by a simple hydrogen reduction procedure. The electrochemical measurements reveal that the PdIr catalysts have the best catalytic activity and stability for formic acid electrooxidation.

Reference

[1] Yoon, B. et al., J. Am. Chem. Soc., 127(49), 17174 (2005)

[2] Maiyalagan, T. et al., J. Power Sources, 211, 147 (2012)

[3] Huang, H.et al., J. Mater. Chem., 22(42), 22533 (2012)

[4] Morgan, R. D. et al., J. Phys. Chem. C, 115(39), 19413 (2011)

[5] Zhao, H. et al., Chem. Comm. 47, 2014 (2011)