Facile Synthesis of Carbon-Supported Ultrasmall Ag@Pd Core-Shell Nanocrystals with Superior Electrocatalytic Activity for Direct Formic Acid Fuel Cell Application

• Published in: Chinese journal of chemistry Vol. 34; no. 11; pp. 1086 - 1092
• Main Authors: Cao, Jianyu, Zhu, Zhentao, Zhao, Weifang, Xu, Juan, Chen, Zhidong
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Weinheim WILEY-VCH Verlag 01.11.2016; WILEY‐VCH Verlag; Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
• Subjects: core-shell nanoparticles; direct formic acid fuel cell; electrocatalyst; formic acid electrooxidation; Nanocrystals; 合成; 核壳型; 燃料电池; 甲酸; 电催化活性; 纳米晶; 透射电子显微镜; 钯
• ISSN: 1001-604X; 1614-7065
• DOI: 10.1002/cjoc.201600366

To design electrocatalysts with excellent performance, morphology, composition and structure is a decisive influential factor. In this work, ultrasmall Ag@Pd core-shell nanocrystals supported on Vulcan XC72R carbon with different Ag/Pd atomic ratios are synthesized via a facile successive reduction approach with formaldehyde and eth- ylene glycol as reducing agents, respectively. The Ag-core/Pd-shell nanostructures are revealed by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy （HRTEM）. Ag@Pd core-shell nanocrystals possess a narrow size distribution with an average size of ca. 4.3 nm. In comparison to monometallic Pd/C and commercial Pd black catalysts, such Ag@Pd core-shell nanocrystals display excellent electrocatalytic activities for formic acid oxidation, which may be due to high Pd utilization derived from the formation of Ag@Pd core-shell nanostructure and the strong interaction between Ag and Pd.