Issue 1, 2012
From the journal:

RSC Advances

Investigation on performance of Pd/Al2O3–C catalyst synthesized by microwave assisted polyol process for electrooxidation of formic acid

Wei-Li Qu,ab   Zhen-Bo Wang,*a   Zheng-Zhi Jiang,ac   Da-Ming Guc  and  Ge-Ping Yina  

* Corresponding authors

a School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Harbin Institute of Technology, No. 92 West-Da Zhi Street, Harbin, China
E-mail: wangzhenbo1008@ yahoo.com.cn

b School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Harbin Normal University, No. 1 Normal University South Road, Harbin, China

c School of Science, Harbin Institute of Technology, No. 92 West-Da Zhi Street, Harbin, China

Abstract

A Pd/Al2O3–C catalyst with α-Al2O3 and Vulcan XC-72 carbon black as a mixture support for direct formic acid fuel cell (DFAFC) has been prepared by a microwave-assisted polyol process for the first time. The as-prepared Pd/Al2O3–C catalysts with different mass ratios of α-Al2O3 to XC-72 carbon have been characterized by XRD, EDAX, XPS, TEM, HRTEM, and electrochemical measurements in this study. The results show that the activity of the catalyst with α-Al2O3 as the support is lower than that of the catalyst with carbon black as the support, owing to α-Al2O3 having poor electrical conductivity. However, the activity of the catalyst with α-Al2O3 and Vulcan XC-72 carbon black as a mixture support is evidently enhanced. The Pd/Al2O3–C catalyst with a mass ratio of α-Al2O3 to XC-72 carbon of 1 : 2 presents the narrowest particle size distribution on the surface of the mixture support, which exhibits the best activity and stability for formic acid electrooxidation among all the samples. Its current density of the positive anodic peak of formic acid electrooxidation is up to 36.97 mA cm−2. Pd/Al2O3–C catalyst with a suitable ratio of α-Al2O3 to XC-72 carbon shows a better catalytic activity for formic acid electrooxidation and a higher stability than Pd/C, resulting from the addition of α-Al2O3 improving its electrooxidation ability for formic acid due to an anti-corrosion property of α-Al2O3 and a metal–support interaction between the Pd nanoparticles and the α-Al2O3.

Graphical abstract: Investigation on performance of Pd/Al2O3–C catalyst synthesized by microwave assisted polyol process for electrooxidation of formic acid

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Article information

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1039/C1RA00504A
Article type
Paper
Submitted
23 Jul 2011
Accepted
23 Sep 2011
First published
07 Nov 2011

RSC Adv., 2012,2, 344-350

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Investigation on performance of Pd/Al2O3–C catalyst synthesized by microwave assisted polyol process for electrooxidation of formic acid

W. Qu, Z. Wang, Z. Jiang, D. Gu and G. Yin, RSC Adv., 2012, 2, 344 DOI: 10.1039/C1RA00504A

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