Titanium compounds TiC–C and TiO2–C supported Pd catalysts for formic acid electrooxidation

In this work, Pd nanoparticles supported on TiC–C and TiO2–C as novel and efficient supports for formic acid electrooxidation are investigated. The Pd/TiC–C and Pd/TiO2–C catalysts have been synthesized by microwave-assisted polyol process. The Pd nanoparticles in the Pd/TiC–C and Pd/TiO2–C catalysts are found to disperse more uniformly and have smaller sizes on the TiC–C and TiO2–C supports than that on carbon support alone. The addition of titanium compounds (TiC and TiO2) significantly increases catalytic activity and stability of Pd for formic acid electrooxidation because of outstanding oxidation and acid corrosion resistance of titanium compounds (TiC and TiO2), and metal-support interaction between Pd nanoparticles and titanium compound (TiC or TiO2). The Pd/TiC–C catalyst displays the best performance among all the samples. The effect of TiC:C mass ratio on the catalytic activity is also investigated. It is found that the maximal catalytic activity and stability for formic acid electrooxidation is observed at the Pd/TiC–C catalyst with TiC:C mass ratio of 1:2.