Carbon-supported Pd-Co nanocatalyst as highly active anodic electrocatalyst for direct borohydride/hydrogen peroxide fuel cells

Abstract

Pd/C and Pd-Co/C nanocatalysts are prepared via a simple and environmentally friendly method and are used as anodic catalyst for direct borohydride–hydrogen peroxide fuel cells. X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy results indicate that Pd and Pd-Co nanoparticles adhere on carbon with the mean diameter of about 4 nm. The cyclic voltammetry, chronoamperometry, chronopotentiometry, and rotating disc electrode voltammetry results show that the electrocatalytic activity of Pd-Co/C is higher than that of Pd/C, especially Pd67Co33/C which shows the highest electrocatalytic activity for BH4− electro-oxidation with the electron-transfer number of 4.9 related to BH4− electro-oxidation reaction. The single direct borohydride–hydrogen peroxide fuel cell with Pd67Co33/C anode obtains the maximum power density as high as 66.84 mW cm−2 at 25 °C.