Abstract
The circular economy in renewable energy areas involves the valorization of wastes like crude glycerol from the biodiesel production. In this work, crude glycerol was evaluated as biofuel for fuel cells applications on PdBi nanomaterials synthesized by a green chemical method involving protic ionic liquids. Bismuth at different concentrations (15, 55, 70 and 83%) promoted electronic and morphological shifts. Atomically-dispersed Pd catalyst was found in the Pd85Bi15/C material. While, the increase of Bi content formed hemispherical nanoparticles and then, in a composition of Pd17Bi83/C, 2D materials were found. X-ray diffraction and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy indicated that bismuth was in form of Bi2O3 and Bi(OH)3. Pd30Bi70/C and Pd17Bi83/C were the two electrocatalysts with the highest activity for the crude glycerol electro-oxidation reaction, achieving current densities of 244.17 and 237.67 mA mg−1Pd. These two current densities values represented 207 and 88% of that obtained for pure glycerol oxidation. Additionally, these current densities were higher than those values reported for Pd-based materials, and Pd17Bi83/C was the most stable material retaining the activity during 500 cycles, being most stable than other materials found in literature based on Pt-group metals. The results herein presented reveal that bismuth is a strong candidate as an economically viable and functional co-catalyst.
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