Abstract
There remain great challenges in developing highly efficient electrocatalysts with both high activity and good stability for the ethanol oxidation reaction in alkaline media. Herein, two architectures of tri-metallic PdIrAu/C electrocatalysts are designed and the promoting effect of Au and Ir on Pd toward the ethanol oxidation reaction (EOR) in alkaline media is investigated in detail. On the one hand, the tri-metallic Pd7Au7Ir/C electrocatalyst with a solid solution alloy architecture is less active relative to Pd7Ir/C and Pd/C while the stabilizing effect of Au leads to both a higher activity and a lower degradation percentage after 3000 cycles of the accelerated degradation test (ADT) on Pd7Au7Ir/C than those on Pd7Ir/C. On the other hand, the tri-metallic Pd7Ir@(1/3Au)/C electrocatalyst with a near surface alloy architecture delivers a much higher activity with an improvement up to 50.4% compared to Pd7Ir/C. It is speculated that for the tri-metallic Pd7Ir@(1/3Au)/C electrocatalyst, certain Au atoms are well designed on surfaces to introduce an electronic modification, thus leading to an anti-poisoning effect and improving the EOR activity.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Johansson T B, Kelly H, Reddy A K N, Williams R H. Renewable Energy: Sources for Fuels and Electricity. Washington: Island Press, 1993
Chum H L, Overend R P. Biomass and renewable fuels. Fuel Processing Technology, 2001, 71(1–3): 187–195
Vielstich W, Yokokawa H, Gasteiger H A. Handbook of Fuel Cells: Fundamentals Technology and Applications. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons, 2009
Carrette L, Friedrich K A, Stimming U. Fuel cells–fundamentals and applications. Fuel Cells, 2001, 1(1): 5–39
Li Y S, Feng Y, Sun X D, He Y L. A sodium-ion-conducting direct formate fuel cell: yielding electricity and base. Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 2017, 56(21): 5734–5737
Yu E H, Wang X, Krewer U, Li L, Scott K. Direct oxidation alkaline fuel cells: from materials to systems. Energy & Environmental Science, 2012, 5(2): 5668–5680
Zhao T S, Li Y S, Shen S Y. Anion-exchange membrane direct ethanol fuel cells: status and perspective. Frontiers of Energy and Power Engineering in China, 2010, 4(4): 443–458
Li Y S, Sun X D, Feng Y. Hydroxide-self-feeding high-temperature alkaline direct formate fuel cells. ChemSusChem, 2017, 10(10): 2135–2139
Yu E H, Krewer U, Scott K. Principles and materials aspects of direct alkaline alcohol fuel cells. Energies, 2010, 3(8): 1499–1528
Bianchini C, Shen P K. Palladium-based electrocatalysts for alcohol oxidation in half cells and in direct alcohol fuel cells. Chemical Reviews, 2010, 41(3): 4183–4206
Shen S Y, Zhao T S, Xu J B, Li Y S. Synthesis of PdNi catalysts for the oxidation of ethanol in alkaline direct ethanol fuel cells. Journal of Power Sources, 2010, 35(23): 12911–12917
Zhang Z, Zhang C, Sun J, et al. Ultrafine nanoporous Pd Fe/Fe3O4 catalysts with doubly enhanced activities towards electro-oxidation of methanol and ethanol in alkaline media. Journal of Materials Chemistry A, Materials for Energy and Sustainability, 2013, 1(11): 3620–3628
Mukherjee P, Roy P S, Mandal K, Bhattacharjee D, Dasgupta S, Bhattacharya S K. Improved catalysis of room temperature synthesized Pd-Cu alloy nanoparticles for anodic oxidation of ethanol in alkaline media. Electrochimica Acta, 2015, 154: 447–455
Peng C, Hu Y, Liu M, Zheng Y. Hollow raspberry-like PdAg alloy nanospheres: high electrocatalytic activity for ethanol oxidation in alkaline media. Journal of Power Sources, 2015, 278: 69–75
Ma L, He H, Hsu A, Chen R R. PdRu/C catalysts for ethanol oxidation in anion-exchange membrane direct ethanol fuel cells. Journal of Power Sources, 2013, 241(241): 696–702
Maksić A, Smiljanić M, Miljanić Š, Rakočević Z, Štrbac S. Ethanol oxidation on Rh/Pd(poly) in alkaline solution. Electrochimica Acta, 2016, 209: 323–331
Ma Y W, Zhang H M, Zhong H X, Xu T, Jin H, Geng X Y. High active PtAu/C catalyst with core–shell structure for oxygen reduction reaction. Catalysis Communications, 2010, 11(5): 434–437
Zhang J L, Sasaki K, Sutter E, Adzic R R. Stabilization of platinum oxygen-reduction electrocatalysts using gold clusters. Science, 2007, 315(5809): 220–222
Liang Z X, Zhao T S, Xu J B. Stabilization of the platinum–ruthenium electrocatalyst against the dissolution of ruthenium with the incorporation of gold. Journal of Power Sources, 2008, 185(1): 166–170
Xu J B, Zhao T S, Shen S Y, Li Y S. Stabilization of the palladium electrocatalyst with alloyed gold for ethanol oxidation. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 2010, 35(13): 6490–6500
Shen S Y, Guo Y G, Luo L X, Li F, Li L, Wei G H, Yin J W, Ke C C, Zhang J L. Comprehensive analysis on the highly active and stable PdAu/C electrocatalyst for ethanol oxidation reaction in alkaline media. Journal of Physical Chemistry C, 2018, 122(3): 1604–1611
Shen S Y, Zhao T S, Xu J B. Carbon-supported bimetallic PdIr catalysts for ethanol oxidation in alkaline media. Electrochimica Acta, 2010, 55(28): 9179–9184
Liang Y, Zhang H, Zhong H, Zhu X, Tian Z, Xu D, Yi B. Preparation and characterization of carbon-supported PtRuIr catalyst with excellent co-tolerant performance for proton-exchange membrane fuel cells. Journal of Catalysis, 2006, 238(2): 468–476
Chen A, La Russa D J, Miller B. Effect of the iridium oxide thin film on the electrochemical activity of platinum nanoparticles. Langmuir, 2004, 20(22): 9695–9702
Acknowledgements
This work is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 21503134 and 21533005), and the National Key Research and Development Program of China (Grant No. 2016YFB0101201).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Shen, S.Y., Guo, Y.G., Wei, G.H. et al. A perspective on the promoting effect of Ir and Au on Pd toward the ethanol oxidation reaction in alkaline media. Front. Energy 12, 501–508 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11708-018-0586-7
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11708-018-0586-7