Platinum-decorated palladium-nanoflowers as high efficient low platinum catalyst towards oxygen reduction

A three-dimensional, low platinum (Pt) catalyst was prepared by decorating platinum on the palladium nanoflowers (Pd-NF) by an underpotential deposition (UPD) method. The Pd-NF was synthesized by a solvothermal approach, using oleic acid as the template and benzyl alcohol as the solvent-reducing agent. The obtained Pd with a morphology of uniform nanoflowers is composed of plentiful nanosheets. After decorating with platinum, the catalyst Pd-NF@Pt exhibits much higher activity for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) compared to commercial Pt/C (Pt 20 wt%). The interaction between deposited Pt and Pd-NF was revealed by XPS analysis, and the high performance of the Pd-NF@Pt catalyst was attributed to following two aspects: the increased of dispersion of platinum based on Pd-NF substrate, and the increased intrinsic activity of the active sites caused by the interaction of Pt and Pd NF. (C) 2017 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.