Development of Effective Bimetallic Electrocatalysts for Glucose Electrooxidation

Abstract

Vulcan XC-72 supported PdCo and PtCo electrocatalysts were synthesized via supercritical deposition method and designed as anode catalyst for direct glucose fuel cells (DGFCs). As-prepared electrocatalysts were characterized by using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometer (ICP-MS), scanning electron microscopy energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDX), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) while electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), cyclic voltammetry (CV) and chronoamperometry (CA) methods were used for the electrochemical characterization of PdCo/Vulcan XC-72 and PtCo/Vulcan XC-72 catalysts. PdCo/Vulcan XC-72 anode catalyst showed higher electrocatalytic activity for glucose electrooxidation than PtCo/Vulcan XC-72. In addition, chronoamperometry results showed that PdCo/Vulcan XC-72 possessed better stability within 1000 s than PtCo/Vulcan XC-72. The improvement in electrocatalytic activity and stability has been attributed to the alteration of the electronic properties of Pd with the addition of Co. The PdCo/Vulcan XC-72 catalyst is a good candidate for use as an anode catalyst in DGFCs. (C) 2022 The Electrochemical Society ("ECS"). Published on behalf of ECS by IOP Publishing Limited.