Ligand effect of PdRu on Pt-enriched surface for glucose complete electro-oxidation to carbon dioxide and abiotic direct glucose fuel cells.

ABSTRACT

The development of advanced electrocatalysts for the abiotic direct glucose fuel cells (ADGFCs) is critical in the implantable devices in living organisms. The ligand effect in the Pt shell-alloy core nanocatalysts is known to influence the electrocatalytic reaction in interfacial structure. Herein, we reported the synthesis of ternary Pt@PdRu nanoalloy aerogels with ligand effect of PdRu on Pt-enriched surface through electrochemical cycling. Pt@PdRu aerogels with optimized Pt surface electronic structure exhibited high mass activity and specific activity of Pt@PdRu about 450 mA·mgPt-1 and 1.09 mA·cm-2, which were 1.4 and 1.6 times than that of commercial Pt/C. Meanwhile, Pt@PdRu aerogels have higher electrochemical stability comparable to commercial Pt/C. In-situ FTIR spectra results proved that the glucose oxidation reaction on Pt@PdRu aerogels followed the CO-free direct pathway reaction mechanism and part of the products are CO2 by completed oxidation. Furthermore, the ADGFC with Pt@PdRu ultrathin anode catalyst layer showed a much higher power density of 6.2 mW·cm-2 than commercial Pt/C (3.8 mW·cm-2). To simulate the blood fuel cell, the Pt@PdRu integrated membrane electrode assembly was exposed to glucose solution and a steady-state open circuit of approximately 0.6 V was achieved by optimizing the glucose concentration in cell system.