Acta Phys. -Chim. Sin. ›› 2011, Vol. 27 ›› Issue (03): 604-608.doi: 10.3866/PKU.WHXB20110301

• ELECTROCHEMISTRY AND NEW ENERGY • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Electrocatalytic Performance of Pd Catalyst Supported on Macropore Carbon for Oxidation of Formic Acid

LIU Chun-Yan1, XU Bin2, TANG Ya-Wen1, CAO Gao-Ping2, YANG Yu-Sheng2, LU Tian-Hong1,3   

  1. 1. School of Chemistry and Environmental Science, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing 210097, P. R. China;
    2. Research Institute of Chemical Defense, Beijing 100191, P. R. China;
    3. Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun 130022, P. R. China
  • Received:2010-08-16 Revised:2010-12-27 Published:2011-03-03
  • Contact: LU Tian-Hong E-mail:tianhonglu@263.net
  • Supported by:

    The project was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (20873065, 21073094).

Abstract:

The electrocatalytic performances of a Vulcan XC-72 carbon black supported Pd (Pd/XC) catalyst and a macroporous carbon supported Pd (Pd/MC) catalyst for formic acid oxidation in a direct formic acid fuel cell were investigated and compared. This was carried out using X-ray energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), X-ray diffraction (XRD) spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, and electrochemical techniques. The cyclic voltammograms indicate that the main peak potentials for the oxidation of formic acid at the Pd/XC and Pd/MC catalyst electrodes are similar and they are located at about 0.15 V. However, the peak current density of the Pd/MC catalyst electrode is about 30% larger than that of the Pd/XC catalyst electrode. The chronoamperometric curves indicate that the peak current density at the Pd/MC catalyst electrode at 6000 s is about 38% larger than that at the Pd/XC catalyst electrode. These results show that the electrocatalytic activity and stability of the Pd/MC catalyst for the oxidation of formic acid are better than those of the Pd/XC catalyst. Because the average size and relative crystallinity of the Pd particles in the two catalysts are similar, the reason for the better electrocatalytic performance of the Pd/MC catalyst could be only attributed to its larger pore diameter and higher conductivity because of its high extent of MC graphitization.

Key words: Formic acid oxidation, Macropore carbon, Carbon supported Pd catalyst, Electrocatalytic performance, Direct formic acid fuel cell