Electrocatalytic oxidation of ethanol and ethylene glycol on cubic, octahedral and rhombic dodecahedral palladium nanocrystals

Abstract

Cubic, octahedral and rhombic dodecahedral Pd nanocrystals were synthesized and examined as nanocatalysts for electro-oxidation of ethanol and ethylene glycol. Combined electrochemical measurements and density functional theory calculations reveal that nanofacet-dependent affinity and reactivity of OH_ads and CO_ads are closely linked to the C2 alcohol oxidation activities, with the highest reactivity found on the Pd nanocubes bounded by {100} facets.