Phosphating a Pd-rich ‘dealloyed PdCo3 nanoparticles’: An effective electrocatalyst for glycerol oxidation reaction

Abstract

To develop advanced palladium based (Pd-based) electrocatalyst with high Pd-utilization, herein, a phosphated dealloyed palladium cobalt composite (P-D-PdCo3/C composite) catalyst is fabricated via a facile dealloying and phosphating process for investigating glycerol electrooxidation. As-prepared P-D-PdCo3/C is characterized by many physical techniques, including X-ray diffraction, Transmission electron microscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. While, the electrocatalytic performance is evaluated by various electrochemical methods. The results show that, through phosphating dealloyed PdCo3 nanoparticles, the component Pd, Co and P in the composite of P-D-PdCo3 has good Pd utilization and synergy, resulting to a good electrocatalytic activity with current density of 65.9 mA mg−1 and stability of over 3000 s towards glycerol electrooxidation. This study would offer a promising avenue towards designing multiple composited Pd-based electrocatalyst for direct glycerol fuel cells.