Enhanced ethanol oxidation over Pd nanoparticles supported porous graphene-doped MXene using polystyrene particles as sacrificial templates

Fabrication of superior catalytic performance palladium-based catalysts with affordable cost is the key to develop direct ethanol fuel cell. Herein, Pd-decorated three-dimensional (3D) porous constructed from graphene oxide (GO) and MXene combining with polystyrene (PS) particles as sacrificial templates (Pd/GO-MXene-PS) to elevate the catalytic performance for ethanol oxidation was proposed. The 3D porous interconnected structure of Pd/GO-MXene-PS was characterized by scanning electron microscope (SEM), transmission electron microscope (TEM) and Brunner−Emmet−Teller (BET). By optimizing the doping ratio of MXene to GO, the mass activity of Pd/GO5-MXene5-PS (2944.0 mA·mg−1) was 3.0 times higher than that of commercial Pd/C (950.4 mA·mg−1) toward ethanol oxidation in base solution. Meanwhile, the rotating disk electrode (RDE) results demonstrated that Pd/GO5-MXene5-PS had a faster kinetics of ethanol oxidation. The enhanced ethanol oxidation over Pd/GO5-MXene5-PS could attribute to the excellent 3D interconnected porous structure, large surface area, good conductivity and homogeneous Pd distribution. This work provided a new idea for creating 3D porous MXene composite materials in electrocatalysis.Graphical abstract