Polyhedral Palladium-Silver Alloy Nanocrystals as Highly Active and Stable Electrocatalysts for the Formic Acid Oxidation Reaction.
Polyhedral noble-metal nanocrystals have received much attention and wide applications as electrical and optical devices as well as catalysts. In this work, a straightforward and effective hydrothermal route for the controllable synthesis of the high-quality Pd-Ag alloy polyhedrons with uniform size is presented. The morphology, composition and structure of the Pd-Ag alloy polyhedrons are fully characterized by the various physical techniques, demonstrating the Pd-Ag alloy polyhedrons are highly alloying. The formation/growth mechanisms of the Pd-Ag alloy polyhedrons are explored and discussed based on the experimental observations and discussions. As a preliminary electrochemical application, the Pd-Ag alloy polyhedrons are applied in the formic acid oxidation reaction, which shows higher electrocatalytic activity and stability than commercially available Pd black due to the "synergistic effects" between Pd and Ag atoms.
Jiangsu Key Laboratory of New Power Batteries, Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center of Biomedical Functional Materials, School of Chemistry and Materials Science, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing 210023, P. R. China.
Geng-Tao
GT
Fu
Jiangsu Key Laboratory of New Power Batteries, Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center of Biomedical Functional Materials, School of Chemistry and Materials Science, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing 210023, P. R. China.
Chang
C
Liu
Key Laboratory of Macromolecular Science of Shaanxi Province, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an 710062, P. R. China.
Qi
Q
Zhang
Key Laboratory of Macromolecular Science of Shaanxi Province, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an 710062, P. R. China.
Yu
Y
Chen
Jiangsu Key Laboratory of New Power Batteries, Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center of Biomedical Functional Materials, School of Chemistry and Materials Science, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing 210023, P. R. China.
Ya-Wen
YW
Tang