Karim Kakae - Department of nano Chemistry, Faculty of Science, University of Maragheh,Maragheh,Iran
Golnaz Ghadimi - Department of nano Chemistry, Faculty of Science, University of Maragheh, Maragheh,Iran

We report a facile one pot electrochemical Pd/N-doped RGO (Pd/N-RGO) catalyst for theethanol oxidation in alkaline media. Graphene is synthesized from graphite electrodes usingionic liquid-assisted electrochemical exfoliation. Pd electrocatalyst then was reduced byethylene glycol as a stabilizing agent to prepare highly dispersed Pd nanoparticles on carbongraphene oxide to be used as ethanol oxidation in direct ethanol fuel cell (DEFC) catalysts.X-ray diffractometer and scanning electron microscopy techniques are used to investigatethe crystallite size and the surface morphologies respectively. The electrochemicalcharacteristics of the Pd/N-RGO catalyst is investigated by cyclic voltammetry (CV) innitrogen saturated ethanol aqueous solutions and KOH aqueous solution. Detailedelectrochemical studies (involving chronoamperometry, cyclic voltammetry and linearsweep voltammetry) prove that the electro-catalytic oxidation of ethanol at the Pd/N-RGO ismore stable, occurring at lower potential, giving lower Tafel slopes compared to Pd/RGOcatalyst, which can reveal the particular properties of the exfoliated N-graphene and Pdsupports.

Electrochemical exfoliation, Graphene oxide, Palladium nanoparticles, Ethanoloxidation