Rh-decorated PtIrOxnanoparticles for glycerol electrooxidation:Searching for a stable and active catalyst

ZANATA, CINTHIA; FERNANDEZ, PABLO; TROIANI, HORACIO; SOLDATI, ANALIA L.; LANDERS, RICHARD; CAMARA, GIUSEPPE; CARVALHO, ADRIANA; MARTINS, CAUE

Applied Catalysis B: Environmental

Elsevier

Año: 2016 vol. 181 p. 445 - 455

0926-3373

tWe report a fast method of producing rhodium-decorated platinum nanoparticles (NPs) containingiridium oxides (IrOx) to be used in the glycerol electrooxidation reaction. We synthesize PtIrOx/C elec-trocatalysts of different atomic compositions dispersed on Carbon Vulcan XC-72R®by using the fastpolyol method assisted by microwaves. Afterwards, PtIrOx/C was potentiodynamically decorated byRh (Rh/PtIrOx/C). The NPs are characterized by energy dispersive X-ray analysis, X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy. The electrooxidation of glycerolwas investigated in acid medium by cyclic voltammetry and chronoamperometry. The electrochemicalstability of Rh/PtIrOx/C NPs was evaluated by following a degradation test protocol, which consists inexhaustive cyclic voltammetries. Our results show that the presence of iridium oxides in the architec-ture of platinum enhances the electrochemical stability of the catalyst by avoiding agglomeration effects.Moreover, the presence of rhodium catalyzes the glycerol electrooxidation reaction. These results helpunderstanding the role of Rh and IrOxin the glycerol electrooxidation and provide new insights fordesigning nanomaterials with improved stability and activity.