Effective Synthesis Procedure Based on Microwave Heating of the PdCo Aerogel Electrocatalyst for Its Use in Microfluidic Devices

Unsupported PdCo aerogels were successfully synthesizedby meansof microwave heating. The use of this heating methodology providessome advantages compared to conventional heating in terms of savingsynthesis time and improved physicochemical properties (i.e., greatersurface area and mesoporosity). The combination of palladium withcobalt reduces the dependence of the noble metal and increases theelectrocatalytic performance in the ethanol oxidation reaction dueto a higher percentage of Pd-0 in the PdCo aerogel, confirmedusing the X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) technique. For theapplication in energy conversion electrochemical systems, the catalyticactivity of aerogels was evaluated in a microfluidic fuel cell thatuses ethanol as fuel, where the PdCo aerogel synthesized by microwaveheating exhibited great performance with 330 mA cm(-2) current density, tripling the value of the palladium-based aerogel.

Automated summary

Unsupported PdCo aerogels were successfully synthesized using microwave heating, which offers advantages in terms of synthesis time and physicochemical properties. The combination of palladium with cobalt enhances the electrocatalytic performance due to a higher percentage of Pd-0, as confirmed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The microwave-synthesized PdCo aerogel showed excellent performance in an ethanol-fueled microfluidic fuel cell.