Remarkable activity of PdIr nanoparticles supported on the surface of carbon nanotubes pretreated via a sonochemical process for formic acid electro-oxidation

It was reported for the first time that the surface treated multi-walled carbon nanotubes supported PdIr (PdIr/CNT-SCP) catalyst presents remarkable electrocatalytic activity and stability for formic acid electro-oxidation (FAEO). The surface of CNTs was functionalized by a sonochemical process for the deposition of PdIr nanoparticles (NPs). The XRD and TEM characterizations show that the prepared PdIr/CNT-SCP catalyst has small mean size and good dispersion of PdIr NPs on CNTs. The electrochemical measurements show that the onset and anodic peak potentials of FAEO on PdIr/CNT-SCP catalyst are 60 and 50 mV more negative than that on the commercial Pd/C catalyst. The mass-normalized peak current density of PdIr/CNT-SCP is 3365 mA mg−1Pd, which is 4.5, 1.4 and 2.7 times higher than that of PdIr/CNT-Untreated, PdIr/C-SCP and commercial Pd/C, respectively. It demonstrates the promotion of Ir and functionalized CNTs to Pd for FAEO.