Highly efficient electrocatalytic oxidation of formic acid on palladium nanoparticles-graphitic carbon nitride composite

The electrochemical formic acid oxidation reaction (FAO) is an anodic process of direct formic acid fuel cells. Carbon supported platinum (Pt/C) and Palladium (Pd/C) catalysts are widely used as anode materials for FAO. The CO poisoning of Pt/C and poor stability of Pd/C are main obstacles for its commercialization. We report here superior electrocatalytic activity of Palladium nanoparticles-carbon nitride composite (PdNPs/CNx) towards formic acid oxidation (FAO) with high mass activity (1640 mAmgPd−1) in acid media (0.5 M H2SO4) which is 7.2 times higher than that of commercial Pd/C catalyst. It also exhibited an outstanding stability for FAO (mass activity of this catalyst was 23 times higher than commercial Pd/C after 1000 cycles).