Ultrahigh activity of Pd decorated Ir/C catalyst for formic acid electro-oxidation

Abstract

A core–shell like Ir/C@Pd catalyst with ultrahigh activity toward formic acid electro-oxidation (FAEO) was prepared by decorating Pd shell on the Ir NPs for the first time. The structure has been demonstrated by XRD, XPS, TEM, EDS and electrochemical techniques. The mass-normalized current density at 0.08V (vs. SCE) of Ir/C@Pd for FAEO is 3756mAmg−1Pd, which is about 3.38 and 4.16 times higher than that of the PdIr/C and commercial Pd/C, respectively. The remarkable performance of Ir/C@Pd should be attributed to its unique core–shell like structure and the enhanced electronic coupling between the Ir and Pd, which was confirmed by XPS results.