Design and synthesis of Pd–MnO2 nanolamella–graphene composite as a high-performance multifunctional electrocatalyst towards formic acid and methanol oxidation

One great challenge in the development of portable fuel cell systems is to explore novel electrocatalysts with better performance and lower costs. Here we report a facile strategy to fabricate a ternary nanocomposite based on Pd/MnO2 nanolamella–graphene sheets (Pd/MNL/GS) and demonstrate its application as a multifunctional catalyst for both the direct formic acid fuel cell (DFAFC) and direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC). The developed route rationally utilizes graphene as both a green reducing agent in the synthesis of MnO2 nanolamella and a superior supporting material for growing and supporting Pd nanoparticles (NPs). Whether for formic acid oxidation or methanol oxidation, the as-prepared Pd/MNL/GS hybrid has extremely large electrochemically active surface area (ECSA) values and exhibits significantly high forward peak current densities, both of which are nearly 3 times greater than those of the Pd/GS catalyst and 6 times the Pd/Vulcan XC-72 catalyst, revealing that metal Pd can be effectively utilized in the presence of promoter components (MNL and GS). Therefore, such a ternary composite with a sophisticated 2D configuration may bring new design opportunities of high-performance energy conversion devices in the future.