Facile aqueous phase synthesis of Pd₃Cu–B/C catalyst for enhanced glucose electrooxidation

A novel Pd₃Cu–B/C nanocatalyst is successfully synthesized via a simple aqueous phase approach and used as an anode catalyst for glucose electrooxidation reaction in fuel cell. Electrochemical characterization demonstrates that, in comparison with Pd₃Cu/C and Pd/C, Pd₃Cu–B/C nanocatalyst exhibits markedly improved electrocatalytic performance with larger electrochemical active surface area, higher activity and better stability. This significant improvement of electrocatalytic performance is due to the increased number of active sites, which comes from the electronic effect and strong interactions among Pd, Cu and B. We expect that both of the facile synthesis method and outstanding catalytic performance of Pd₃Cu–B/C achieved in this study will open up new opportunities for direct glucose fuel cell application.