Electrochemical investigation of Pd nanoparticles and MWCNTs supported Pd nanoparticles-coated electrodes for alcohols (C1-C3) oxidation in fuel cells

Incorporation of palladium nanoparticles (PdNPs) and multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) into chitosan-coated glassy carbon (GC) electrode for alcohols (methanol, ethanol, and isopropanol) electrooxidation has been studied. PdNPs-chitosan and MWCNTs-PdNPs-chitosan nanocomposites are successfully prepared and characterized by transmission electron microscopy images and UV-Vis spectroscopy. Based on the results, PdNPs-chitosan nanocomposite indicates high electrochemical activity and excellent catalytic characteristic for alcohol (C-1-C-3) electrooxidation on a GC electrode in an alkaline medium. The current density of the alcohols oxidation at GC-PdNPs-chitosan electrode is investigated in optimized conditions and compared with that obtained at the GC-modified electrode by Pd with different polymers. Also, our results show that the dispersion of Pd nanoparticles on the MWCNTs significantly improved the performance of the PdNPs/chitosan composite for electrooxidation of the C-1-C-3 alcohols.