Issue 68, 2017, Issue in Progress

PdZn nanoparticle electrocatalysts synthesized by solution combustion for methanol oxidation reaction in an alkaline medium

Abstract

Herein, we report the synthesis of PdZn nanoparticle (NP) electrocatalysts for the methanol oxidation reaction (MOR). The PdZn NPs were synthesized by solution combustion synthesis in the presence of Pd(NO3)2·xH2O, Zn(NO3)2·6H2O and glycine in H2O, where glycine acted as a fuel. In this synthesis, the glycine amount was varied with a fixed stoichiometric ratio of Pd- and Zn-precursors at 1 : 1 to obtain two electrocatalysts (PdZn/C) of fuel-high (glycine to metal nitrate ratio = 1.75), PdZn/C (1.75) and fuel-low (glycine to metal nitrate ratio = 0.5), PdZn/C (0.5). The NPs were characterized by X-ray diffractometry, transmission electron microscopy and scanning electron microscopy for the crystallite size, morphology and elemental composition of the electrocatalysts. High-angle annular dark-field-scanning transmission electron microscopy coupled to energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy was used to obtain the elemental distribution maps of the aggregated NPs, which confirmed the NPs with Pd and Zn in the alloyed state. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy was performed to analyze the electronic structures of the elements in the samples. The NPs were then applied in the electrocatalysis for MOR in an alkaline medium. We found that PdZn/C showed an improved electrocatalytic activity by a factor of ∼1.4–1.9 in comparison with Pd/C synthesized using the same method. The MOR on PdZn/C (1.75) began at an earlier onset potential and higher current density than for Pd/C and PdZn/C (0.5). Stability tests were performed by chronoamperometry on PdZn/C and Pd/C, and the results showed a higher stability of PdZn/C (1.75) compared to PdZn/C (0.5) and Pd/C. The fuel amount affected the NP sizes, reaction yield and electrocatalytic properties.

Graphical abstract: PdZn nanoparticle electrocatalysts synthesized by solution combustion for methanol oxidation reaction in an alkaline medium

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
23 Jun 2017
Accepted
21 Aug 2017
First published
04 Sep 2017
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY-NC license

RSC Adv., 2017,7, 42709-42717

PdZn nanoparticle electrocatalysts synthesized by solution combustion for methanol oxidation reaction in an alkaline medium

M. A. Matin, A. Kumar, R. R. Bhosale, M. A. H. Saleh Saad, F. A. Almomani and M. J. Al-Marri, RSC Adv., 2017, 7, 42709 DOI: 10.1039/C7RA07013F

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications, without requesting further permission from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given and it is not used for commercial purposes.

To request permission to reproduce material from this article in a commercial publication, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party commercial publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements