Highly Active PdPt Catalysts for the Electrochemical Reduction of H2O2

Recent studies have shown that the use of hydrogen peroxide as a fuel cell oxidant instead of oxygen significantly increases the power density. In this paper, we report on highly active carbon supported PdPt catalysts for hydrogen peroxide reduction. Four different PdPt electrocatalysts, Pd/C, Pt/C, Pd0.5Pt0.5/C, and Pd0.25Pt0.75/C, were prepared and characterized using transmission electron microscopy, energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy, x-ray diffraction, and Brunauer-Emmet-Teller surface area analysis. The electrocatalytic activities of these synthesized catalysts were studied using a rotating disk electrode system with a combination of linear sweep voltammetry and chronoamperometry. Our studies show that the Pd0.25Pt0.75/C catalyst has the highest activity for hydrogen peroxide reduction, outperforming the Pd/C, Pt/C, and Pd0.5Pt0.5/C catalysts. (C) 2011 The Electrochemical Society. [DOI: 10.1149/1.3548529] All rights reserved.