Achieving >99.9% Faradaic Efficiency for Complete Ethanol Electrooxidation over a Co-PdZn Heterointerface

Area of Science:

• Electrochemistry
• Materials Science
• Catalysis

Background:

• Direct ethanol fuel cells (DEFCs) require efficient electrocatalysts for complete ethanol oxidation.
• Achieving exclusive selectivity for the C1 pathway in ethanol oxidation is a significant challenge.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a novel electrocatalyst with high activity and selectivity for the ethanol oxidation reaction (EOR).
• To investigate the role of catalyst heterointerfaces in steering reaction pathways.

Main Methods:

• Synthesis of a carbon-supported Co-PdZn catalyst (Co-PdZn/NC) with a nanoparticle heterointerface.
• Electrochemical evaluation of the catalyst's performance in alkaline media.
• Density functional theory (DFT) calculations to elucidate reaction mechanisms.

Main Results:

• The Co-PdZn/NC catalyst exhibited high mass activity (13.29 A mg_Pd^-1) for alkaline EOR.
• Achieved >99.9% Faradaic efficiency for the C1 pathway over a broad potential range (0.3-0.7 V).
• DFT revealed that interfacial coupling between Co and PdZn enhances reactant adsorption and intermediate oxidation.

Conclusions:

• Well-designed heterointerfaces can precisely control electrocatalytic reaction pathways.
• The Co-PdZn/NC catalyst offers a promising strategy for advanced catalysts in energy conversion.
• This work provides a general approach for developing selective catalysts for complex reactions.