Palladium–Tin Alloyed Catalysts for the Ethanol Oxidation Reaction in an Alkaline Medium

In this paper, we present a study of a series of carbon-supported Pd–Sn binary alloyed catalysts prepared through a modified Polyol method as anode electrocatalysts for direct ethanol fuel cell reactions in an alkaline medium. Transmission electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy equipped with electron energy loss spectroscopy were used to characterize the Pd–Sn/C catalysts, where homogeneous Pd–Sn alloys were determined to be present with the surface Sn being partially oxidized. Among various Pd–Sn catalysts, Pd 86 Sn 14 /C catalysts showed much enhanced current densities in cyclic voltammetric and chronoamperometric measurements, compared to commercial Pd/C (Johnson Matthey). The overall rate law of ethanol oxidation reaction for both Pd 86 Sn 14 /C and commercial Pd/C were also determined, which clearly showed that Pd 86 Sn 14 /C was more favorable in high ethanol concentration and/or high pH environment. Density functional theory calculations also confirmed Pd–Sn alloy structures would result in lower reaction energies for the dehydrogenation of ethanol, compared to the pure Pd crystal.