An Investigation of Palladium Oxygen Reduction Catalysts for the DirectMethanol Fuel Cell

A comparative study of Pd and Pt was carried out in DMFC using differentmethanol concentrations and under different operating conditions. Cell performance was compared atmethanol concentrations of 1, 3, 5, and 7Mand at temperatures of 20, 40, and 60(circle)C. Homemade Pd nanoparticles were prepared on Vulcan XC-72R using ethylene glycol as the reducing agent at pH 11. The resulting catalyst, Pd/C, with metal nanoparticles of approximately 6nm diameter, was tested as a cathode catalyst in DMFC. At methanol concentrations of 5M and higher, the Pd cathode-based cell performed better than that with Pt at 60(circle)C with air.