Palladium-Based Electrocatalysts for Alcohol Oxidation in Half Cells and in Direct Alcohol Fuel Cells

The discussion of the state-of-the art of the synthesis and characterization of Pd-based electrocatalysts for the oxidation of alcohols, and is widely documented that Pd and Pd-alloy nanoparticles, supported on a variety of conductive materials, exhibit superior activity for the electrooxidation of alcohols and polyalcohols in alkaline solutions. Notable efforts are therefore being carried out to design new catalytic structures for DAFC anodes that do not contain platinum or contain tiny amounts of this rare metal and, most of all, are able to oxidize primary and secondary alcohols with fast kinetics and tolerable deactivation. Pd-based catalysts are particularly suitable for the selective oxidation of ethanol to acetate. The selective oxidation of alcohols, in particular of ethanol, ethylene glycol, and glycerol to carboxylate derivatives, isolable as alkali metal salts, opens new perspectives to the use of DAFCs as reactors capable of supplying energy.