title: Microbial synthesis of highly dispersed PdAu alloy for enhanced electrocatalysis.
abstract: Biosynthesis based on the reducing capacity of electrochemically active bacteria is frequently used in the reduction of metal ions into nanoparticles as an eco-friendly way to recycle metal resources. However, those bionanoparticles cannot be used directly as electrocatalysts because of the poor conductivity of cell substrates. This problem was solved by a hydrothermal reaction, which also contributes to the heteroatom doping and alloying between Pd and Au. With the protection of graphene, the aggregation of nanoparticles was successfully avoided, and the porous structure was maintained, resulting in better electrocatalytic activity and durability than commercial Pd/C under both alkaline (CH3CH2OH, 6.15-fold of mass activity) and acidic (HCOOH, 6.58-fold of mass activity) conditions. The strategy developed in this work opens up a horizon into designing electrocatalysts through fully utilizing the abundant resources in nature.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, College of Science, College of Food Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China.
authors.forename: Jiawei
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Urban Pollutant Conversion, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xiamen 361021, China.
authors.forename: Yue
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, College of Science, College of Food Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China.
authors.forename: Zilan
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Hong
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, College of Science, College of Food Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China.
authors.forename: Kai
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Cai
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Urban Pollutant Conversion, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xiamen 361021, China.
authors.forename: Feng
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, College of Science, College of Food Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China.
authors.forename: Heyou
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Han
mesh_terms: D000497:Alloys / Q000737:chemistry; D002384:Catalysis; D055664:Electrochemical Techniques; D006046:Gold / Q000737:chemistry; D006108:Graphite / Q000737:chemistry*; D053768:Metal Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry*; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction; D010165:Palladium / Q000737:chemistry*; D010984:Platinum / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D000497:Alloys; D010984:Platinum; D010165:Palladium; D006046:Gold; D006108:Graphite
keywords: Electrochemically active bacteria; Shewanella oneidensis MR-1; electrocatalyst; ethanol; formic acid; fuel cell; gold; green synthesis; hydrothermal reaction; palladium