Evaluation and Characterization of Palladium Oxides used for Increasing the Rate of the Hydrogen Oxidation Reaction

摘要

The catalytic effect in hydrogen oxidation experiments was evaluated using oxides of palladium that were formed electrochemically and their behavior was compared to oxides thermally formed in air. I-t curves measured at 0.6V(NHE) showed average current densities of 30 mA cm~(-2) obtained with the electrochemical oxide compared to 40 mA cm~(-2) obtained with the thermally formed oxide. Though the oxide formed electrochemically had 25% less current density than the oxide formed thermally, its synthesis conditions are more energy efficient than those for the thermal oxide. This leads to envisioning its use as a catalyzer in low temperature fuel cells. XRD characterization confirms that the electrochemical method generates palladium monoxide at the working potential used in these experiments.