Catalytically active highly metallic palladium on carbon support for oxidation of HCOO−

- Highly metallic Pd/C is synthesized by addition of NH3 and iodine ion.
- Highly metallic Pd/C catalyst improves oxidation kinetics of Hads.
- Highly metallic Pd/C catalyst shows enhanced activity toward formate oxidation.

Catalytically active highly metallic palladium (A-I-Pd/C) catalyst for oxidation of formate (HCOO−) was synthesized via borohydride reduction method assisted by ammonia and iodine ion. The physico-chemical characterizations were conducted to investigate properties of the synthesized catalysts and we confirmed A-I-Pd/C is consisted with palladium hydride. The catalytic activity of the catalysts for oxidation of HCOO− are characterized by electrochemical analysis and A-I-Pd/C catalysts performed the best catalytic activity for oxidation of HCOO− in terms of Tafel slope and onset potential. The enhanced catalytic activity of A-I-Pd/C is explained by enhanced kinetics of oxidation of Hads, which is caused by weaken adsorption strength of Hads on Pd due to electron transfer from H to Pd. The enhanced performance of A-I-Pd/C was also confirmed and compared with the others in a single cell system.

The dependency of the state of Pd in carbon-supported palladium on synthesis process.86