Surfactant-free palladium nanodendrite assemblies with enhanced electrocatalytic performance for formic acid oxidation

•Pd nanodendrite assemblies (Pd-NDAs) are obtained by a cyanogel-reduction route.•The BET surface area of the Pd-NDAs is measured to be 90.1 m2 g− 1.•Pd-NDAs exhibit enhanced activity and stability for the formic acid oxidation.

Well-defined Pd nanodendrite assemblies (Pd-NDAs) with high surface area are successfully synthesized through a facile cyanogel-reduction route in the absence of surfactant. The detailed morphology, composition and structure of the Pd-NDAs are thoroughly investigated by various characterization methods, demonstrating that the Pd-NDAs are highly porous and self-supported structures. Cyclic voltammetry, CO-stripping and chronoamperometry tests show that the Pd-NDAs exhibit superior electrocatalytic activity and stability for the formic acid oxidation under acidic conditions, which make them promising anodic electrocatalysts for the future.

Graphical abstractWell-defined Pd nanodendrite assemblies with big surface area and high electrocatalytic activity were fabricated though simple cyanogel-reduction method.Figure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slide