Highly dispersed Pd nanoparticles on covalent functional MWNT surfaces for methanol oxidation in alkaline solution

4-Aminobenzoic acid (4-ABA) was covalently grafted on to the surface of multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) via a novel amine-cation induced radical reaction. Then, Pd nanoparticles were deposited on functional 4-ABA group-grafted MWNTs (F-MWNTs) by NaBH4 reduction method. The structure and nature of the resulting product were characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectrometry, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements. The electrocatalytic properties of the Pd/F-MWNTs catalyst for methanol oxidation have been investigated by cyclic voltammetry, linear sweep voltammetry and chronomperometry methods. In contrast to the unfunctionalized counterpart, the electrochemical results demonstrate that Pd/F-MWNTs exhibit better electrocatalytic activities and stability, mainly due to the uniform dispersion and small particle size of Pd nanoparticles on the F-MWNT supports. The results imply that the Pd/F-MWNTs catalyst shows the better electrocatalytic performances and has a promising application potential in fuel cells.