Preparation of PdNi nanospheres with enhanced catalytic performance for methanol electrooxidation in alkaline medium

This work reports a simple method to design and synthesize PdNi nanospheres which supported on Vulcan XC-72R Carbon with NaBH4 as reducing agent at ambient temperature and their superior electrocatalytic activity. The results of electrochemical measurements indicate that the PdNi nanospheres exhibit improved catalytic activity, excellent durability as well as higher long-term stability towards methanol oxidation reaction in comparison with commercial Pd/C catalysts. Furthermore, it is interpreted that the enhanced catalytic performance of the PdNi nanospheres is owing to the electronic effect between Pd and Ni and the spherical shape structure with rough surface. These findings highlighted the significance of precisely synthesizing the Pd/Ni nanospheres supported on Vulcan XC-72R Carbon and their emerging applications as electrocatalysts for direct methanol fuel cells.

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