Carbon-Nanotubes-Supported Pd Nanoparticles for Alcohol Oxidations in Fuel Cells: Effect of Number of Nanotube Walls on Activity

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are well known electrocatalyst supports due to their high electrical conductivity, structural stability, and high surface area. Here, we demonstrate that the number of inner tubes or walls of CNTs also have a significant promotion effect on the activity of supported Pd nanopa...

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Main Authors: Zhang, J., Lu, S., Xiang, Y., Shen, P., Liu, J., Jiang, San Ping
Format: Journal Article
Published: Wiley-VCH Verlag 2015
Online Access:http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/DP150102044
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/17991
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author Zhang, J.
Lu, S.
Xiang, Y.
Shen, P.
Liu, J.
Jiang, San Ping
author_facet Zhang, J.
Lu, S.
Xiang, Y.
Shen, P.
Liu, J.
Jiang, San Ping
author_sort Zhang, J.
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are well known electrocatalyst supports due to their high electrical conductivity, structural stability, and high surface area. Here, we demonstrate that the number of inner tubes or walls of CNTs also have a significant promotion effect on the activity of supported Pd nanoparticles (NPs) for alcohol oxidation reactions of direct alcohol fuel cells (DAFCs). Pd NPs with similar particle size (2.1–2.8 nm) were uniformly assembled on CNTs with different number of walls. The results indicate that Pd NPs supported on triple-walled CNTs (TWNTs) have the highest mass activity and stability for methanol, ethanol, and ethylene glycol oxidation reactions, as compared to Pd NPs supported on single-walled and multi-walled CNTs. Such a specific promotion effect of TWNTs on the electrocatalytic activity of Pd NPs is not related to the contribution of metal impurities in CNTs, oxygen-functional groups of CNTs or surface area of CNTs and Pd NPs. A facile charge transfer mechanism via electron tunneling between the outer wall and inner tubes of CNTs under electrochemical driving force is proposed for the significant promotion effect of TWNTs for the alcohol oxidation reactions in alkaline solutions.
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-179912022-10-12T07:13:04Z Carbon-Nanotubes-Supported Pd Nanoparticles for Alcohol Oxidations in Fuel Cells: Effect of Number of Nanotube Walls on Activity Zhang, J. Lu, S. Xiang, Y. Shen, P. Liu, J. Jiang, San Ping Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are well known electrocatalyst supports due to their high electrical conductivity, structural stability, and high surface area. Here, we demonstrate that the number of inner tubes or walls of CNTs also have a significant promotion effect on the activity of supported Pd nanoparticles (NPs) for alcohol oxidation reactions of direct alcohol fuel cells (DAFCs). Pd NPs with similar particle size (2.1–2.8 nm) were uniformly assembled on CNTs with different number of walls. The results indicate that Pd NPs supported on triple-walled CNTs (TWNTs) have the highest mass activity and stability for methanol, ethanol, and ethylene glycol oxidation reactions, as compared to Pd NPs supported on single-walled and multi-walled CNTs. Such a specific promotion effect of TWNTs on the electrocatalytic activity of Pd NPs is not related to the contribution of metal impurities in CNTs, oxygen-functional groups of CNTs or surface area of CNTs and Pd NPs. A facile charge transfer mechanism via electron tunneling between the outer wall and inner tubes of CNTs under electrochemical driving force is proposed for the significant promotion effect of TWNTs for the alcohol oxidation reactions in alkaline solutions. 2015 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/17991 10.1002/cssc.201500107 http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/DP150102044 Wiley-VCH Verlag restricted
spellingShingle Zhang, J.
Lu, S.
Xiang, Y.
Shen, P.
Liu, J.
Jiang, San Ping
Carbon-Nanotubes-Supported Pd Nanoparticles for Alcohol Oxidations in Fuel Cells: Effect of Number of Nanotube Walls on Activity
title Carbon-Nanotubes-Supported Pd Nanoparticles for Alcohol Oxidations in Fuel Cells: Effect of Number of Nanotube Walls on Activity
title_full Carbon-Nanotubes-Supported Pd Nanoparticles for Alcohol Oxidations in Fuel Cells: Effect of Number of Nanotube Walls on Activity
title_fullStr Carbon-Nanotubes-Supported Pd Nanoparticles for Alcohol Oxidations in Fuel Cells: Effect of Number of Nanotube Walls on Activity
title_full_unstemmed Carbon-Nanotubes-Supported Pd Nanoparticles for Alcohol Oxidations in Fuel Cells: Effect of Number of Nanotube Walls on Activity
title_short Carbon-Nanotubes-Supported Pd Nanoparticles for Alcohol Oxidations in Fuel Cells: Effect of Number of Nanotube Walls on Activity
title_sort carbon-nanotubes-supported pd nanoparticles for alcohol oxidations in fuel cells: effect of number of nanotube walls on activity
url http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/DP150102044
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/17991