Sn-doped PdCu alloy nanosheet assemblies as an efficient electrocatalyst for formic acid oxidation

Abstract

A ternary alloy catalyst has been confirmed to be an effective catalyst for anode catalysis in direct formic acid fuel cells, which can improve the electrocatalytic performance of the fuel cell by introducing commonly used metal elements to change the Pd electronic structure and can reduce the use of precious metals and the cost of catalyst production. In this study, PdCuSn Ns/C with a special 3D structure was synthesized by a simple two-step wet chemical method. The PdCuSn Ns/C catalyst prepared exhibits excellent catalytic activity and stability for the formic acid oxidation reaction (FAOR). The mass activity of 2420.1 mA mg⁻¹_Pd is 3.94 times that of the Pd/C catalyst. The improvement in the electrocatalytic performance stems from the introduction of Cu and Sn atoms and the unique 3D nanosheet structure, which changes the electronic structure of Pd to increase the reactive active site and accelerates the reaction mass transfer rate, and also reduces the content of precious metals, while improving the electrocatalytic performance. Therefore, the PdCuSn Ns/C catalyst has a promising future in the field of electrocatalysis.