posted on 2012-08-22, 00:00authored byKyungwon Lee, Shin Wook Kang, Su-Un Lee, Kyu-Hwan Park, Young Wook Lee, Sang Woo Han
Highly monodisperse 5 nm Pd–Ni alloy nanoparticles
(NPs)
were prepared by the reduction of Pd(acac)2/Ni(acac)2 mixtures with tert-butylamine-borane complex (TBAB) in the
presence of oleic acid (OA) and oleylamine (OAm). Employing TBAB as
an effective reductant and OA/OAm combination as an effective stabilizing
agent is crucial to the formation of monodisperse Pd–Ni NPs.
Experimental results collectively verify that the Pd–Ni alloy
NPs form through the sequential nucleation-interdiffusion process
and the simultaneous reduction of both metal precursors by the one-pot
protocol is the key to the formation of homogeneous NPs. The Pd–Ni
NPs were well-dispersed on carbon supports and chemically dealloyed
after acetic acid washing through the selective dissolution of the
less noble Ni component. The Pd–Ni NP catalysts exhibited much
higher electrocatalytic activity and stability for ethanol oxidation
than those of a commercial Pd/C catalyst.