Zeolite supported palladium nanoparticle characterization for fuel cell application

Abstract

Palladium (Pd) has been widely used as a type of hydrogen storage material and has attracted much attention for fuel cell applications, due to its high solubility and mobility of hydrogen in Pd. In this study, Pd nanoparticles made by 1.5 wt% Pd loading on Y-zeolite under pre-treatment was employed to investigate their electrochemical activities using cyclic voltammetry (CV), and detailed local structural characterization of Pd cluster was probed by the extended X-ray absorption fine structure. Pd nanoparticle sizes were predicted at 0.81 nm–1.2 nm and the CV measurement has demonstrated that Pd zeolite catalyst has exhibited a similar tendency to those 40% Pd on XC-72R carbon. The hydrogen spillover process and surface conductance pathways contribute to the electrochemical behavior on Pd surface. In electrochemical environment, hydrogen is able to form hydride phase on Pd surface by either direct hydrogen adsorption or migrating to the centre of Pd.