Highly dispersed palladium nanoparticles on functional MWNT surfaces for methanol oxidation in alkaline solutions

Palladium nanoparticles were crystallized on 4-aminobenzoic acid monolayer-grafted multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNT) by diazotization. The structure and nature of the resulting Pd/MWNT composite were characterized by transmission electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction, the results show that the chemically synthesized Pd nanoparticles were homogeneously dispersed and well-separated from one another on the modified MWNT surfaces. Cyclic voltammogram showed that the Pd-MWNT composite materials performed higher electrocatalytic activity and better long-term stability toward methanol oxidation in alkaline solution than Pd-C. The results imply that the Pd-MWNT composite materials as a promising support material improve the excellent electrocatalytic activity for methanol oxidation greatly. So the Pd/MWNT composites have a good application potential to fuel cells.