Unexpected Activity for Glycerol Electro‐Oxidation of Nanostructured Pd−Pt and Pd−Pt−Ru Catalysts

Abstract Ruthenium‐modified palladium/platinum bimetallic materials were synthesized at nanoscale by using the formic acid method. This soft and surfactant‐less chemical approach led to a trimetallic catalyst (Pd 25 Pt 25 Ru 50 /C) that displayed excellent ability toward glycerol oxidation and also a favorable capacity for CO oxidation, as a probing molecule. In the case of glycerol, the main oxidation peak shifted remarkably from 500 mV towards lower electrode potentials. From cyclic voltammetry combined with in situ infrared spectroscopy experiments, our findings provided evidence of weakly adsorbed carbonaceous species on the trimetallic electrode, probably owing to the ligand effect.