High performance of a carbon supported ternary PdIrNi catalyst for ethanol electro-oxidation in anion-exchange membrane direct ethanol fuel cells

In this paper, we report the synthesis of a carbon supported ternary PdIrNi catalyst for the ethanol oxidation reaction in anion-exchange membrane direct ethanol fuel cells (AEM DEFCs). We demonstrate that the use of the ternary PdIrNi catalyst at the anode of an AEM DEFC can increase the peak power density by more than 122% as compared with the use of the monometallic Pd catalyst, 69% as compared with the use of the bimetallic PdIr catalyst, and 44% as compared with the use of the bimetallic PdNi catalyst. Cyclic voltammetry and chronopotentiometry analyses prove that the ternary PdIrNi catalyst is catalytically much more active and more stable than the monometallic Pd catalyst and the bimetallic PdIr and PdNi catalysts.