Promoted electrocatalytic ability of the Pd on doped Pt in NiO-MgO solid solution toward methanol and ethanol oxidation.

Abstract The performance and cost of electrodes are two most important aspects in the design of polymeric fuel cells. In this work, doped Pt nanoparticles in NiO-MgO solid solution (PNMSS) particles were synthesized through co-precipitation method. The prepared PNMSS particles were characterized and incorporated as promoter to electrocatalyst containing palladium. The electrochemical studies were employed to compare the electrochemical behaviour of Pd and Pd-PNMSS. The electrochemical surface area was increased about 10 times with addition of PNMSS to Pd. The incorporation effect of PNMSS to Pd on catalytic activity toward the electrooxidation of methanol and ethanol was assessed in alkaline media. According to our results, the alcohols electrooxidation on Pd/PNMSS had the more negative potential and higher current density than PNMSS and Pd catalysts. It was proved that PNMSS incorporation improves the kinetics of alcohol electrooxidation on Pd particles. The various data such as: turnover number, turnover frequency, reaction order, activation energy, electron transfer and diffusion coefficients were calculated for electrooxidation both alcohols. As well as, the methanol and ethanol adsorption on the Pd-PNMSS surface was analyzed and the experimental data were fitted to Temkin isotherm via novel method to evaluate the analyte adsorption on the surface of electrocatalyst. Graphical abstract Unlabelled Image [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]