Novel palladium-gadolinium (Pd-Gd/C) bimetallic catalysts for electrooxidation of methanol in alkaline media

Pd/C and Pd-Gd/C catalysts were synthesized and their catalytic performance for methanol electrooxidation in alkaline solution was compared. The structure, morphology and nature of surface species of these catalysts were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The cyclic voltammetry (CV), linear sweep voltammetry (LSV), chronoamperometry (CA), and CO stripping results show that the 20%Pd-10%Gd/C catalyst has better electrocatalytic activity and durability, as well as higher resistance to CO poisoning than that of the 20%Pd/C catalyst. Furthermore, the insight for the promoting effect of Gd on the specific activity is discussed in this work.