Significant promotion effect of Fe3O4 on the mass catalytic activity of Pd nanocatalyst for the formic acid oxidation reaction

The catalytic activity of novel 20% Pd-Fe3O4/C catalyst for Formic Acid Oxidation Reaction (FAOR) in 0.5 mol L-1 H2SO4 is reported. The evaluation has been carried out with several concentrations of the organic molecule (0.01, 0.1, 0.5 and 1 mol L-1). Electrochemical characterization shows lower specific current densities than those of a 20% Pd/C for the FAOR. Meanwhile, about a 2.6 increase in mass current density at Pd-Fe3O4/C (441.67 mA mg(Pd)(-1)) is observed compared to the monometallic with 1 mol L-1 FA. The onset potential (Eon-set) for the FAOR is also more negative (0.1 V) at Pd-Fe3O4/C. Economic magnetite may improve the performance of Pd-based anodes for the FAOR in terms of mass catalytic activity, but there is necessity to enhance the specific activity. (C) 2017 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.