Development of Noval Electrocatalyst Based on Graphene Supported Palladium‐Cobalt Nanoparticles as Hydrogen Evolution Catalyst for the Cost Effective Production of Hydrogen from Methanol

Abstract

AbstractProduction of hydrogen using conventional water electrolysis is not the convenient and effective way due to slow oxidation evaluation at the anode electrode. Electroreforming of organic substances such as methanol to generate hydrogen has been considered an innovative strategy. Herein, graphene (G) supported Pd3−Co1 (Pd3−Co1/G) catalyst was synthesized and employed as cathode catalyst to facilitate hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) in the electrochemical methanol reformation (ECMR) process. The structural characteristics of synthesized Pd3−Co1/G were determined by FE‐SEM, HR‐TEM, EDX, XRD, FT‐IR, UV, XPS, and ICP‐OES techniques. Furthermore, the electrocatalytic behavior of the proposed catalyst was evaluated by CV, LSV and EIS techniques in 0.5 M H2SO4. Electrochemical studies revealed that Pd3−Co1/G exhibited a large electrochemically active surface area (120 m2 g−1), good long‐term stability, low Tafel slope value (46 mV dec−1) and small Rct value (12 Ω). The practical utility of the developed catalyst towards hydrogen production in ECMR cell was tested at various experimental conditions using membrane electrode assemblies (MEAs) which were prepared using commercial Pt−Ru/C as anode and Pd3−Co1/G as cathode electrocatalysts respectively. The synthesized Pd3−Co1/G electrocatalyst exhibited superior cell performance for 50 h at 60 °C cell temperature with a cell voltage and current density of 0.58 V and 150 mA cm−2, respectively. The improvement in electrocatalytic activity could be attributed to alloying Pd with Co and the use of G as carbon support, which in turn enhanced the HER activity of Pd. Hence, the prepared Pd3−Co1/G can be used as an alternative to cathode electrocatalyst for HER in ECMR cells.