Methane activation at low temperature in an acidic electrolyte using PdAu/C, PdCu/C, and PdTiO2/C electrocatalysts for PEMFC

Pd/C, PdAu/C, PdCu/C, and PdTiO2/C electrocatalysts were prepared by a sodium borohydride reduction process for methane activation at low temperatures in a PEMFC reactor. These electrocatalysts were characterized by XRD, TEM, XPS, ICP-MS, ATR-FTIR, and cyclic voltammetry. The diffractograms of Pd/C, PdAu(50:50)/C, PdCu(50:50)/C, and PdTiO2(50:50)/C electrocatalysts showed peaks associated with Pd face-centered cubic structure. PdAu(50:50)/C showed a small shift in the peak center when it was compared to Pd/C, while PdCu(50:50)/C showed a shift to higher angles when it was also compared to Pd/C. This effect can be due to the formation of an alloy between Pd and Au, and Pd and Cu. By TEM experiments, a mean nanoparticle size was observed between 6.9 and 8.9 nm for all electrocatalysts. Cyclic voltammograms of Pd/C, PdAu/C, PdCu/C and PdTiO2/C electrocatalysts showed an increase in current density values after the adsorption of methane The ATR-FTIR experiments showed for all electrocatalysts the formation of methanol and formic acidic. Polarization curves at 80 degrees C acquired in a PEMFC reactor showed that PdAu(50:50)/C and PdTiO2(50:50)/C had superior performance when compared to Pd/C, indicating the beneficial effect of adding the co-catalyst; this behavior has been attributed to the bifunctional mechanism or electronic effect.