Palladium Adatoms on Gold Nanoparticles as Electrocatalysts for Ethanol Electro-Oxidation in Alkaline Solutions

Abstract

Palladium (Pd) is a good catalyst for ethanol electro-oxidation in alkaline solutions. The activity of Pd is further improved in this study by modifying the gold (Au) nanoparticles with Pd adatoms using a simple spontaneous deposition process. The Pd overlayer on the Au core (Au@Pd) is un-uniform with some Au atoms exposed to the electrolyte. The activity of Au@Pd/C toward ethanol oxidation reaction (EOR) is much higher than that of Pd/C in an alkaline solution. The peak current density of Au@Pd/C is 4.6 times higher than that of Pd/C with a 100 mV lower onset potential. The enhanced activity may be due to the electronic effect from the Au core, and the bifunctional reaction mechanism. 钯催化剂对碱性溶液的乙醇电催化氧化反应表现较好的催化活性. 本文通过简单的化学沉积法，将钯原子成功修饰到金纳米颗粒表面，制备的催化剂对乙醇电催化氧化反应表现出比钯更好的催化性能. 研究发现，钯原子不均匀地覆盖在金核表面，部分金原子暴露在外层. 制备的催化剂的峰电流密度是钯催化剂的4.6 倍，起始电势低100 mV. 该催化剂较好的催化性能可能归因于金核的电子效应和表面双功能电催化反应机制.