Performance of carbon nanofiber supported Pd–Ni catalysts for electro-oxidation of ethanol in alkaline medium

Carbon nanofibers (CNF) supported Pd–Ni nanoparticles have been prepared by chemical reduction with NaBH4 as a reducing agent. The Pd–Ni/CNF catalysts were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and electrochemical voltammetry analysis. TEM showed that the Pd–Ni particles were quite uniformly distributed on the surface of the carbon nanofiber with an average particle size of 4.0 nm. The electro-catalytic activity of the Pd–Ni/CNF for oxidation of ethanol was examined by cyclic voltammetry (CV). The onset potential was 200 mV lower and the peak current density four times higher for ethanol oxidation for Pd–Ni/CNF compared to that for Pd/C. The effect of an increase in temperature from 20 to 60 °C had a great effect on increasing the ethanol oxidation activity.