Dendritic defect-rich palladium-copper-cobalt nanoalloys as robust multifunctional non-platinum electrocatalysts for
Chaozhong Li1,2, Qiang Yuan3,4, Bing Ni2
1College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Guizhou University, Guiyang, Guizhou Province, 550025, China.
Abstract:
Recently, the development of high-performance non-platinum electrocatalysts for fuel cell applications has been gaining attention. Palladium-based nanoalloys are considered as promising candidates to substitute platinum catalysts for cathodic and anodic reactions in fuel cells. Here, we develop a facile route to synthesize dendritic palladium-copper-cobalt trimetallic nanoalloys as robust multifunctional electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction and formic acid oxidation. To the best of our knowledge, the mass activities of the dendritic Pd59Cu30Co11 nanoalloy toward oxygen reduction and formic acid oxidation are higher than those previously reported for non-platinum metal nanocatalysts. The Pd59Cu30Co11 nanoalloys also exhibit superior durability for oxygen reduction and formic acid oxidation as well as good antimethanol/ethanol interference ability compared to a commercial platinum/carbon catalyst. The high performance of the dendritic Pd59Cu30Co11 nanoalloys is attributed to a combination of effects, including defects, a synergistic effect, change of d-band center of palladium, and surface strain.
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