TY - JOUR
T1 - Deposition of Pd/graphene aerogel on nickel foam as a binder-free electrode for direct electro-oxidation of methanol and ethanol
AU - Tsang, Chi-Him A.
AU - Hui, K. N.
AU - Hui, K.S.
AU - Ren, L.
PY - 2014/11/14
Y1 - 2014/11/14
N2 - We reported a simple and green method to fabricate various palladium (0.8, 2.17, 7.65 wt%) loaded graphene aerogel deposited on nickel foam (Pd/GA/NF) as binder-free direct electrodes for electro-oxidation of methanol and ethanol. l-Ascorbic acid (vitamin C, VC) was used as a reducing agent in the process under a mild temperature of 40 °C. The morphology, chemical composition, and electrochemical performance of the prepared electrodes were characterized by optical microscopy, SEM/EDX, TEM, XRD, XPS, XRF, and cyclic voltammetry (CV), respectively. The XPS results revealed that both graphene oxide and Pd ions were simultaneously reduced by VC. The CV analysis revealed that the 7.65 wt% Pd/GA/NF electrode showed a maximum peak current density of 798.8 A g-1 (forward to backward peak current density ratio (If/Ib) of 3.11), and 874 A g-1 (If/Ib of 2.72) in methanol and ethanol electro-oxidation, respectively. The catalytic performance of the electrodes was enhanced with increasing the Pd loading. The results indicated that the 7.65 wt% Pd/GA/NF electrode exhibited a good electrocatalytic activity and an outstanding stability for alcohol electro-oxidation. The prolong CV scanning study (over 1000 cycles) showed that the 7.65 wt% Pd/GA/NF electrode achieved a better overall performance and stability in ethanol oxidation compared to methanol oxidation. The proposed electrode preparation method has a great potential for preparing various binder-free catalytic electrodes, which would be beneficial to the development of fuel cell application.
AB - We reported a simple and green method to fabricate various palladium (0.8, 2.17, 7.65 wt%) loaded graphene aerogel deposited on nickel foam (Pd/GA/NF) as binder-free direct electrodes for electro-oxidation of methanol and ethanol. l-Ascorbic acid (vitamin C, VC) was used as a reducing agent in the process under a mild temperature of 40 °C. The morphology, chemical composition, and electrochemical performance of the prepared electrodes were characterized by optical microscopy, SEM/EDX, TEM, XRD, XPS, XRF, and cyclic voltammetry (CV), respectively. The XPS results revealed that both graphene oxide and Pd ions were simultaneously reduced by VC. The CV analysis revealed that the 7.65 wt% Pd/GA/NF electrode showed a maximum peak current density of 798.8 A g-1 (forward to backward peak current density ratio (If/Ib) of 3.11), and 874 A g-1 (If/Ib of 2.72) in methanol and ethanol electro-oxidation, respectively. The catalytic performance of the electrodes was enhanced with increasing the Pd loading. The results indicated that the 7.65 wt% Pd/GA/NF electrode exhibited a good electrocatalytic activity and an outstanding stability for alcohol electro-oxidation. The prolong CV scanning study (over 1000 cycles) showed that the 7.65 wt% Pd/GA/NF electrode achieved a better overall performance and stability in ethanol oxidation compared to methanol oxidation. The proposed electrode preparation method has a great potential for preparing various binder-free catalytic electrodes, which would be beneficial to the development of fuel cell application.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84907720553&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1039/c4ta03138e
DO - 10.1039/c4ta03138e
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84907720553
VL - 2
SP - 17986
EP - 17993
JO - Journal of Materials Chemistry A
JF - Journal of Materials Chemistry A
SN - 2050-7488
IS - 42
ER -