Electrocatalysis of Sandwich-Structured Pd/Polypyrrole/Pd Composites toward Formic Acid Oxidation

Abstract

Palladium (Pd) nanoparticle catalysts were electrodeposited onto a graphite electrode by cyclic voltammetry (CV) technique from a 0.5 M HCl solution containing 0.2 M PdCl2, and then a film of polypyrrole (PPy) was immobilized onto the as-prepared Pd-coated graphite electrode, leading to a PPy/Pd-coated electrode. Pd particles were repeatedly electrodeposited on the PPy/Pd-coated electrode to generate a Pd/PPy/Pd sandwich structured composite coated electrode. This developed composite electrode showed a satisfactory electrocatalysis toward the formic acid oxidation (FAO). The catalysis mechanism of the sandwich structured Pd/PPy/Pd composite catalyst toward FAO was also discussed on the basis of the obtained cyclic voltammograms and FT-IR spectra.