Nanobranched porous palladium-tin intermetallics: One-step synthesis and their superior electrocatalysis towards formic acid oxidation

Nanocrystalline intermetallics in bulk with high surface area hold enormous promise as an efficient catalyst for real fuel cell applications due to their unique electrocatalytic properties. In this work, a novel three-dimensional (3D) porous Pd-Sn intermetallics in network nanostructures (Pd-Sn-INNs) has been fabricated at relatively low temperature for the first time by one-step ethylene glycol-assisted hydrothermal reduction method. The structure characteristics of the Pd-Sn-INNs are confirmed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX), selected-area electron diffraction (SAED), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The as-prepared 3D Pd-Sn-INNs exhibit remarkably improved electrocatalytic activity and stability towards formic acid oxidation reaction (FAOR) over commercially available Pd black. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.