Cr2O3–carbon composite as a new support material for efficient methanol electrooxidation

Graphitic carbon material encasing chromium oxide nanoribbons [Cr 2 O 3 –C composite] is obtained by carbonizing a mixture of furfuryl alcohol and Cr-BDC MOF [BDC: benzene dicarboxylic acid; Cr 3 F(H 2 O) 2 O[(O 2 C)C 6 H 4 –(CO 2 )] 3 ·nH 2 O] at 900 °C under inert atmosphere. The Ni–Pd nanoparticles synthesized by NaBH 4 reduction method are loaded on the Cr 2 O 3 –C support via sonication. Morphological, structural, and chemical analysis of the designed chromia based carbon support and synthesized nanoparticles is carried out with PXRD, EDX, SEM, HR-TEM and BET surface area. The gas adsorption analyses reveal that BET surface area of Cr 2 O 3 –C support decreases from 438 m 2 g −1 to 171 m 2 g −1 by the incorporation Ni–Pd nanoparticles. The electro-oxidation reaction of methanol is carried out over the designed electrocatalysts in acidic media. The Ni–Pd nanoparticles supported on Cr 2 O 3 –C have presented a significant increase in catalytic activity for methanol oxidation and tolerance in comparison to the nanoparticles supported on activated carbon and glassy carbon electrode.