Selective Oxidation of Glycerol Using Au, Pd Mono and Bimetallic Nanoparticles Supported on Carbon Nanotube As Anode Catalysts in Anion Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells

PdAu bimetallic nanoparticles supported on carbon nanotube (CNT) is found to catalyze glycerol oxidation reaction more efficiently, providing higher yield to tartronate than mono-metallic gold supported on CNT. The reaction mechanism indicates that the re-adsorption and further oxidation of reaction intermediates in bulk eletrolytes on the Pd catalyst is the dominant factor leading to such differences. By lowering down the anode potential window (<0.7 V vs. RHE).of the anion exchange fuel cell, the C-C bond cleavage resulting from over-oxidation, which occurs more severely on Pd than Au, is successfully alleviated. The power density of the fuel cell is also increased by alloying PdAu due to enhanced reaction rate. During the 8 h reaction process, stable 50 mW cm^-2 to 5 mW cm^-2 can be generated with 67% yield of tartronate finally achieved using PdAu alloyed nanoparticles supported on CNT as anode catalyst.