Platinum-decorated palladium-nanoflowers as high efficient low platinum catalyst towards oxygen reduction

A three-dimensional, low platinum (Pt) catalyst was prepared by decorating platinum on the palladium nanoflowers (PdNF) by an underpotential deposition (UPD) method. The PdNF was synthesized by a solvothermal approach, using oleic acid as the template and benzyl alcohol as the solvent-reducing agent. The obtained Pd with a morphology of uniform nanoflowers is composed of plentiful nanosheets. After decorating with platinum, the catalyst PdNF@Pt exhibits much higher activity for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) compared to commercial Pt/C (Pt 20 wt%). The interaction between deposited Pt and PdNF was revealed by XPS analysis, and the high performance of the PdNF@Pt catalyst was attributed to following two aspects: the increased of dispersion of platinum based on PdNF substrate, and the increased intrinsic activity of the active sites caused by the interaction of Pt and Pd NF.