Asymmetric Au/(PdAg alloy) nano-allium giganteums for their enhanced electrocatalytic performances to ethanol oxidation reaction

• Published in: Journal of alloys and compounds Vol. 855; p. 157385
• Main Authors: Cui, Zhiqing, Hu, Jinwu, Jiang, Xiaomin, Zhang, Deliang, Fang, Caihong
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 25-02-2021
• Subjects: Asymmetric morphology; Au/(PdAg alloy) nanocrystals; Electrocatalysis; Ethanol oxidation reaction; Asymmetric morphology; Electrocatalysis; Ethanol oxidation reaction; Au/(PdAg alloy) nanocrystals
• ISSN: 0925-8388; 1873-4669
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jallcom.2020.157385

Morphology control is an effective strategy to enhance the electrocatalytic of metal nanocrystals in fuel cells. Herein, we synthesized Au/(PdAg alloy) nano-allium giganteums with a very high purity of almost 99% using an easy operation synthetic method. The Au/(PdAg alloy) nano-allium giganteum, in which PdAg alloyed nanoparticles only located on one end of the Au NR, was successfully obtained through a Ostwald ripening process which is significantly promoted by the addition of Br− ions. Due to the alloyed feature and the special morphology, we also utilized the Au/(PdAg alloy) nanostructures as electrocatalysts toward the ethanol oxidation reaction in alkaline and benchmarked to the commercial Pd/C nanoparticles. The specific activity of Au/(PdAg alloy) nano-allium giganteum is 2.1 mA cm−2, which is 3.2 times of the commercial Pd/C (0.65 mA cm−2). The Au/(PdAg alloy) electrocatalysts also have a higher mass activity of 0.73 A mg−1Pd, which is 2.0 times that of commercial Pd/C (0.36 A mg−1Pd). Furthermore, the durability is also highly improved due to the presence of the exposed Au NR. We thus believed that the Au/(PdAg alloy) nano-allium giganteums can become an attractive catalyst in fuel cells.
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•Au/(PdAg alloy) nanoalliumgiganteum was successfully synthesized using an promoted Ostwald ripening process.•The Au/(PdAg alloy) nanoalliumgiganteums show a very high purity of almost 100%.•The prepared Au/(PdAg alloy) nanostructures exhibit an enhanced electrocatalytic activity toward ethanol oxidation reaction.