Nanosizing low-loading Pd on phosphorus-doped carbon nanotubes for enhanced HCOOH oxidation performance

• Low loading of Pd (3.2 wt%) is nanosized on P-doped carbon nanotubes (Pd/PCNTs).
• Pd/PCNTs possesses high dispersion areas and optimized sample homogeneity.
• Pd/PCNTs exhibits efficient HCOOH oxidation performance.
• The role of interaction between metal and P-doped support in affecting HCOOH oxidation is revealed by surface analyses.

Pd possesses higher activities than Pt for HCOOH oxidation as anode catalysts. However, because of the ease of Pd oxidation, the electrocatalytic stability of Pd is not satisfactory. Herein, low-loading Pd with high dispersions and narrow size distributions is nanosized on phosphorus-doped carbon nanotubes and applied as efficient anode catalysts for HCOOH oxidation. Surface analyses reveal that the decreased Pd3d electron density caused by electron transfer from Pd to P-doped CNTs enhances the HCOOH oxidation performance.

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