Tungsten(VI) oxide as a versatile support for Pd nanocatalysts for alkaline direct alcohol fuel cells

The instability of carbon support materials has motivated the development of metal oxides supports which are stable under the fuel cell environment. In this study, tungsten (VI) oxide (WO3) is utilized as a secondary support and cocatalyst for the electrooxidation of methanol and ethanol. Functionalized carbon nanodots employed as primary supports were blended with WO3 nanoparticles to form a composite support onto which Pd nanoparticles were deposited by a borohydride reduction method. The synthesized Pd/fCNDs-WO3 electrocatalysts were characterized by Transmission Electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffractometry (XRD) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. XRD results proved that incorporating WO3 into Pd/fCNDs electrocatalyst shifts the Pd diffraction peaks to lower 2 theta value due to lattice relaxation. XPS results revealed that W exist in oxidised form and confirmed the strong interaction between the support material and the catalyst. The Pd/ fCNDs-WO3 electrocatalysts exhibited a remarkable catalytic activity towards methanol and ethanol oxidation. High current densities of 87.24 mA cm(-2) and 44.23 mA cm(-2) were obtained for ethanol and methanol oxidation, respectively, using a catalyst with 2.5% Pd loading. EIS, CA and stability tests revealed that the presence of WO3 in Pd/fCNDs electrocatalyst improves the kinetics, tolerance to poisoning and long-term durability in alkaline conditions. This superior performance is attributed to the electronic coupling between Pd and WO3 nanoparticles. (c) 2023 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

Tungsten (VI) oxide (WO3) was used as a stable secondary support and cocatalyst, and functionalized carbon nanodots were blended with WO3 nanoparticles to form a composite support for Pd nanoparticles. The synthesized Pd/fCNDs-WO3 electrocatalysts showed remarkable catalytic activity for methanol and ethanol oxidation. The presence of WO3 in the Pd/fCNDs electrocatalyst improved the kinetics, tolerance to poisoning, and long-term durability.