Electrocatalytic Oxidation of Formate on Pd-Cu/C—Effect of Dealloying Pretreatment

Carbon supported highly dispersed Pd-Cu nanoalloy catalyst toward formate electrooxidation is prepared via one-pot synthesis by using ethylene glycol as the reducing agent and sodium citrate as the stabilizer.The as-prepared catalyst is structurally characterized by TEM and XRD.The Cu dealloyment is carried out through repetitive potential cycling on the Pd-Cu/C catalyst in an acidic solution.The dealloying effect on the performance of the Pd-Cu/C is investigated by using cyclic voltammetry and chronoamperometry,and the surface structural change of Pd-Cu/C is probed by in situ ATR-IR measurement.The results show that the as-prepared Pd-Cu/C processes a better long-term stability than the dealloyed one in electrocatalytic oxidation of formate,while the dealloyed Pd-Cu/C exhibits a higher initial electrocatalytic activity.