A Titanium-Supported Nanoporous Pd Electrocatalyst for Methanol Oxidation

Abstract

Titanium-supported nanoporous palladium electrode(nanoPd /Ti) was prepared by a hydrothermal process in the presence of the ligand EDTA and using formaldehyde as reducing agent.SEM images showed that the size of Pd particles was about 60 nm and the Pd particles were connected with each other to form a three-dimensional network structure.Cyclic voltammetry(CV) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy(EIS) were applied to evaluate the electrocatalytic activity of the nanoPd/Ti electrode towards methanol oxidation in alkaline solution.CV results showed that the nanoPd /Ti electrode presented high anodic peak densities and a low onset potential for methanol oxidation.Also nanoPd /Ti electrode showed excellent CO tolerance during the oxidation of methanol.Nyquist and Bode plots of electrochemical impedance showed that methanol electro-oxidation on the nanoPd /Ti exhibited low impedance values,and that with the increase of methanol concentrations,the impedance value for methanol electrooxidation decreaseed,indicating the significantly high electroactivity of the prepared nanoporous Pd electrode for methanol oxidation.