The Facile Synthesis of Composition-Tunable Pt-Pd Bimetallic Nanocatalysts and Their Electrocatalytic Properties in Formic Acid

In this work, Pt-Pd nanoalloys with various compositions were synthesized using a solution plasma process with pure Pt, pure Pd and Pt80Pd20 (wt.%) alloy electrodes. The elemental compositions, structures and morphologies of the Pt-Pd nanoalloys were characterized using an inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometer, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction and high resolution transmission electron microscopy. In order to examine the electrochemical activities for formic acid oxidation, cyclic voltammetry was conducted using a potentiostat in a nitrogen-purged 0.5 M H2SO4 and 0.5 M HCOOH electrolyte solution. The compositions of as-synthesized Pt-Pd nanoalloys were measured by following: Pt82Pd18, Pt69Pd31, Pt41Pd59 and Pt29Pd71. From the results of the electrochemical characterization, the Pt69Pd31 nanoalloys showed much higher catalytic activity than the other Pt-Pd nanoalloys. Furthermore, and the CO poisoning was strongly affected by the Pd amounts in the synthesized Pt-Pd nanoalloys.