Electrocatalytic Oxidation of Formic Acid on Pd/Ni Heterostructured Catalyst

A Pd/Ni bimetallic nanostructured electrocatalyst was fabricated via a two-step reduction route. Owing to an epitaxial growth of Pd atoms on the surface of Ni nanoparticles, heterostructured Pd/Ni nanocomposites were formed and verified by high resolution transmission electron microscopy combined with energy-dispersion X-ray spectroscopy. X-ray diffraction confirmed that the as-prepared Pd/Ni nanocomposites possessed a single face-centered-cubic (fcc) Pd structure, probably due to a weaker diffraction intensity of metallic Ni and/or overlapping by that of Pd. The intrinsic catalytic activity on the Pd/Ni is higher than that on the Pd. Moreover, the durability of formic acid oxidation on the Pd/Ni was much enhanced over the Pd nanoparticles. The change in electronic structure of the surface coordination unsaturated Pd atoms and the possible dissolution of Ni species from the Pd/Ni heterostructure may account for such an improved durability for formic acid oxidation.