Ru effect on the catalytic performance of Pd@Ru/C catalysts for methanol electro-oxidation

Pd@Ru bimetallic nanoparticles deposited on carbon black electro-catalysts have been fabricated by microwave-assisted polyol reduction method and investigated for methanol electro-oxidation (MEO). The structure and electro-catalytic properties of the as-prepared catalysts were characterized by XRD, SEM, TEM and cyclic voltammetry (CV) techniques. The results showed that the introduction of Ru element (2–10 wt%) into Pd 20 wt%/C (hereafter, denoted as Pd/C) produced a series of core-shell structured binary catalysts. Pd@Ru 5 wt%/C (hereafter, denoted as Pd@Ru5/C) catalyst displayed the highest catalytic activity towards MEO. And the mass activity of Pd@Ru5/C electrode catalyst at E = −0.038 V (vs. Hg/HgO) was 1.42 times higher than that of Pd/C electrode catalyst. In addition, the relationship between the catalytic stability for MEO on Pd@Ru/C catalysts and the value of Jbp/Jfp (the ratio of MEO peak current density in the negative scan and positive scan) were also investigated. The result demonstrated that Pd@Ru5/C offering the smallest value of Jbp/Jfp displayed the best stable catalytic performance.

In this work, we have fabricated binary Pd@Rux (x=2,5,7,10 wt%) nanoparticles deposited on carbon black catalysts and investigated them in electro-catalysis of the MEO in alkaline solution.Figure optionsDownload as PowerPoint slide