Deactivation resistant Pd-ZrO2 supported on multiwall carbon nanotubes catalyst for direct formic acid fuel cells
Journal article, 2015

One of the main problems of palladium based catalysts for a direct formic acid fuel cell (DFAFC) is their low stability during a long-term operation. In these studies, the Pd-ZrO2 catalyst supported on the multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) was prepared and thermo-chemically treated. These catalysts were tested in a fuel cell for formic acid electrooxidation, and their chemical composition and structure were characterised by the XPS, STEM, HR-TEM and XRD techniques. It was found that the Pd-ZrO2/MWCNTs catalyst after synthesis causes oscillations of the cell voltage during operation resulting in significantly higher deactivation resistance than that of Pd/MWCNTs. This may be attributed to the "self-cleaning" mechanism of poisoned Pd catalyst by carbon monoxide through the electrochemical oxidation of COads (adsorbed) to CO2 (gas).

Direct formic acid fuel cell

Pd-ZrO2/MWCNTs

Deactivation resistance

Spontaneous voltage

Author

A. Malolepszy

Warsaw University of Technology

M. Mazurkiewicz

Warsaw University of Technology

L. Stobinski

Warsaw University of Technology

Polish Academy of Sciences

B. Lesiak

Polish Academy of Sciences

L. Kover

Hungarian Academy of Sciences

J. Toth

Hungarian Academy of Sciences

B. Mierzwa

Polish Academy of Sciences

A. Borodzinski

Polish Academy of Sciences

Florian Nitze

Umeå University

Chalmers, Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Applied Chemistry

Chalmers, Chemical and Biological Engineering, Applied Surface Chemistry

T. Wagberg

Umeå University

International Journal of Hydrogen Energy

0360-3199 (ISSN)

Vol. 40 46 16724-16733

Subject Categories

Chemical Sciences

DOI

10.1016/j.ijhydene.2015.08.048

More information

Latest update

2/17/2021