Electrooxidation of formic acid catalyzed by Pd Nanoparticles supported on multi-walled carbon nanotubes with sodium oxalate

Abstract

This paper repots a highly catalytic palladium nanoparticle catalyst dispersed on the purified multi-walled carbon nanotubes (P-MWCNTs) for the electrooxidation of formic acid, in which sodium oxalate is employed as both a dispersant and a coordination agent. The nanostructured catalysts have been characterized by X-ray diffraction technique and transmission electron microscopy. It is found that the as-prepared face-centered cubic crystal Pd nanoparticles are uniformly dispersed on the surface of MWCNTs with an average particle size of 5.6 nm. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and thermogravimetric analysis revel that sodium oxalate is a tractable ligand with the aid of a suitable solution. Cyclic voltammetry and chronoamperometry tests demonstrate that the obtained Pd/P-MWCNT catalyst from typical experiment has better catalytic activity and stability for formic acid electrooxidation than acid-oxidation treatment MWCNT (AO-MWCNT)-supported Pd catalyst from the control experiment. Therefore, the as-prepared Pd/P-MWCNTs would be a potential candidate as an anode electrocatalyst in direct formic acid fuel cells.