NiO-induced synthesis of PdNi bimetallic hollow nanocrystals with enhanced electrocatalytic activities toward ethanol and formic acid oxidation

Noble-metal hollow nanocrystals possess numerous unique advantages such as high surface-to-volume ratio and high utilization of noble metals, which make them a promising electrocatalyst for electro-oxidation of small molecules in fuel cells. Herein, we prepared bimetallic PdNi hollow nanocrystals (PdNi-HNCs) by taking advantage of the galvanic replacement reaction in an aqueous solution and developed a facile NiO-induced strategy for the controlled synthesis of PdNi-HNCs with dendritic or smooth outer shell architectures. A very short oxidation time of an amorphous Ni template is demonstrated to be the key factor to successful fabrication of the dendritic morphology. The results of electrochemical testing indicate that the electrocatalytic activities of PdNi-HNCs are highly dependent on their morphologies. The PdNi-HNCs with a rough and dendritic shell exhibit a mass activity of 1201.5 and 768.0 mA mgPd−1 toward ethanol oxidation reaction (EOR) and formic acid oxidation reaction (FAOR), respectively, much greater than those of the commercial Pd black catalyst (502.6 and 266.3 mA mgPd−1, respectivlely). In particular, the 1500 cyclic voltammetry cycles in alkaline solution and the 30,000 s chronoamperometry tests in acid solution suggest an enhanced long-term durability of PdNi-HNCs with dendritic nanoarchitectures. We ascribe the better catalytic activity to the hollow feature, higher specific electrochemical surface area, more abundant active sites and more appropriate electronic structure of the PdNi-HNCs with a rough and dendritic shell.