Ultrafine Pd nanocrystals anchored onto single-walled carbon nanohorns: A highly-efficient multifunctional electrocatalyst with ultra-low Pd loading for formic acid and methanol oxidation

Hybrid electrocatalysts made from ultrafine Pd nanoparticles strongly coupled on single-wall carbon nanohorns (Pd/CNH) are prepared via a facile and scalable approach. Benefiting from the unique interconnected open-pore microstructure of CNHs as well as the numerous exposed Pd active sites, such an architectural design can substantially increase the Pd utilization efficiency and thereby reduce the overall dosage of metal Pd. Strikingly, the newly-developed Pd/CNH hybrid with an ultra-low Pd loading amount of 5.0 wt% exhibits high forward anodic peak current densities of up to 1420.4 and 1910.6 mA mg−1 toward formic acid and methanol oxidation, respectively, both of which are significantly superior to those of commercial 20.0 wt% Pd/carbon black catalyst. This study may offer an economic option and a new vision for the development of the next-generation low-cost fuel cell anode catalysts.