Preparation of palladium/nickel hydroxides nanoflakes on carbon cloth support as robust anode catalyst for electrocatalytic alcohol oxidation

Abstract

Palladium (Pd) based catalysts are one of promising candidate to replace widely used Pt catalyst due to their lower cost and good electrocatalyst ability for ethanol oxidation reaction in alkaline media. However, most of Pd electrocatalysts suffer from limited operational durability and unsatisfying catalytic activity. Herein, a hybrid electrocatalyst consisting of Pd nanoparticles and Ni(OH)2 nanoflakes on the supported carbon cloth is prepared. Owe to the promoting effects of Ni(OH)2 nanoflakes on Pd nanoparticles for electrocatalytic ethanol oxidation, the prepared Pd/Ni(OH)2/CC exhibits high peak anode current of 161 mA/mg, and excellent operational durability in cycling and chronoamperometric testing. After 1 h of chronoamperometric testing, the mass-specific current on Pd/Ni(OH)2/CC hybrid reserves almost 80% of the original value and approaches to about 132 mA/mg. The electrocatalytic activity can remain via recycled cyclic voltammetry. Such high stability and current density is assigned to the synergistic effect between Pd nanoparticles and Ni(OH)2 nanoflakes.