Amorphous Co3O4-Decorated Pd as an Efficient Electrocatalyst for Methanol Oxidation

In this study, amorphous Co3O4-decorated Pd (carbon supported, denoted as Pd-Co3O4/C) was synthesized with a three-step approach. The as-obtained Pd-Co3O4/C consists of amorphous Co3O4 and Pd. Amorphous Co3O4 nanoparticle acts as the "catalytic promoter" and ultra-low Pd is the active component. Compared to Pd/C, as-prepared Pd-Co3O4/C catalyst offers high mass activity and stability. This high catalytic performance arises from good synergetic effects between Pd and amorphous Co3O4, which makes the Pd-Co3O4/C promising for direct methanol fuel cells.