Cubic Palladium Nanorattles with Solid Octahedron Gold Core for Catalysis and Alkaline Membrane Fuel Cell Applications

Herein, we report the synthesis of palladium nanorattles (Au-Pd NRTs) comprising of a gold octahedral core caged within a thin porous cubic palladium shell. The introduction of core-shell and porous architecture was realized by combining seed mediated and galvanic replacement reaction techniques. Next, we examined the catalytic efficiency of the nanocatalyst in comparison with solid palladium nanocube (Pd-NC) of similar size for the degradation of p-nitrophenol and organic dyes. The rate constant of Au-Pd NRTs was found nearly 12 times higher than the Pd-NCs. Further, we exploited our catalyst for electrochemical oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and observed its high intrinsic ORR activity. Compared with commercialized Pt/C, the Au-Pd NRT displayed nearly comparable onset and half-wave potential values and excellent durability upon potential cycling. The system level validation in a single-cell mode of alkaline exchange membrane fuel cell also confirms the efficiency of the present catalyst to serve as a potential cathode catalyst for realistic device applications.