Novel Pd-Co Electrocatalyst Supported on Carbon Fibers with Enhanced Electrocatalytic Activity for Coal Electrolysis to Produce Hydrogen

Production of hydrogen from electrolysis of coal slurry is a new approach combining the clean utilization of coal with hydrogen production. A novel Pd-Co nanoelectrocatalyst supported on carbon fibers (PdCo/CFs) prepared by impregnation and reduction was developed and first applied to coal electrolysis for hydrogen generation. The performance of the PdCo/CFs electrocatalysts is superior to that of pure Pd/CFs catalyst with an improvement of about 16.9%. The improved performance can be attributed to modification of surface electronic structure due to alloying. The materials synthesized herein are promising anode catalysts for coal electrolysis to produce hydrogen.