•Prepared Pt-Cu alloy NWs via a rapid co-reduction method at room temperature.•Glucose played the key role in facilitating the formation and stabilization of NWs.•Demonstrated the superior catalytic performance toward EGOR.•Improved EG electro-oxidation kinetics process for Pt-Cu NWs.Three-dimensional (3D) network structure nanomaterials (NMs) show excellent catalytic performance due to the larger active surface area. A glucose-directed, surfactant-free and one-step direct chemical co-reduction method for synthesis of Pt-Cu alloy nanowires (NWs) under room temperature was demonstrated in present paper. The Pt-Cu NWs were obtained through the co-reduced of CuCl2 and H2PtCl6 by sodium borohydride in the presence of glucose, the glucose in which not only acted as one-dimensional (1D) growth-directing agent, also as the stabilizing agent. The average diameter of NWs was about 3.1 nm and NWs showed typical face-centered-cubic (fcc) alloy crystal structure. The influence of Pt/Cu ions ratios in precursor solution on the bimetallic composition of NWs had been studied, and NWs displayed the feature of composition-tuning. The electro-catalytic activity of Pt-Cu alloy NWs for ethylene glycol oxidation reaction (EGOR) in alkaline medium was strongly related on their compositions. The Pt31Cu69 NWs exhibited about 1.8 times higher than that of commercial Pt/C and higher durability. The enhanced catalytic performance of Pt-Cu alloy NWs was mainly attributed to their unique 3D network structure and the synergetic effects between Pt and Cu.Download high-res image (519KB)Download full-size image

•Anatase TiO2 is investigated as Pd support in Pd/TiO2–C composite catalysts.•Pd nanoparticles were dispersed on the surface of TiO2 with a narrow particle size distribution.•The electro-catalysis performence confirms the activity and stability of The Pd/TiO2–C composite catalysts.•The effect of mass ratios of TiO2 to C on the catalytic performance is discussed.In this work, anatase-TiO2 is investigated as a catalyst support in Pd/TiO2–C composite to improve the electrocatalytic properties of Pd for formic acid oxidation reaction (FAOR). Pd/TiO2 has been synthesized by an impregnation-reduction method and then mixed with Vulcan XC-72R carbon black to obtain Pd/TiO2–C composite. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images show Pd nanoparticles (ca.3.5 nm in average diameter) in the Pd/TiO2–C (1:1) composite catalyst were dispersed on the surface of TiO2 with a narrow particle size distribution. Electrochemical tests demonstrate Pd/TiO2–C (1:1) composite has significantly increased catalytic activity and stability compared with Pd/C for FAOR. The proposed reasons for these observations are the excellent acid corrosion and oxidation resistance of TiO2 and the synergistic effect of Pd and TiO2 nanoparticles. The effect of mass ratios of TiO2 to C on the catalytic performance is also discussed. The best catalytic activity and stability for FAOR is found when the mass ratio of TiO2 to C is 1:1. It can be interpreted as the synergistic effects and conductivity reach balance at this point.

•TiC was functionalized by PDDA then explored as a catalyst support of Pd catalyst.•Pd/TiC(P) catalyst was synthesized by an electrostatic interaction mechanism.•Pd nanoparticles with a mean size of ∼2.9 nm are uniformly deposited on TiC(P).•Pd/TiC(P) catalyst exhibits the best catalytic performance among all samples tested.There is significant interest in developing new catalyst supports such as metal carbides to overcome the electrochemical corrosion problem of traditional high surface area carbon. A key challenge is the dispersion and stability of the catalysts on the non-carbon based materials. This paper reports a new approach to functionalize titanium carbide by poly (diallyldimethylammonium chloride) (PDDA), investigated as a new catalyst support for Pd catalyzed electrochemical reaction. Thermal gravimetric analysis confirmed the successful noncovalent functionalization of TiC by PDDA. Pd nanoparticles are deposited in situ on the PDDA-wrapped TiC surface through electrostatic interactions mechanism. According to transmission electron microscopy (TEM) observations, Pd nanoparticles with a mean size of ∼2.9 nm are homogeneously deposited on TiC(P). Among all the samples tested, the Pd/TiC(P) catalysts exhibit the highest resistance to CO poisoning, catalytic activity and stability towards formic acid electrooxidation. This performance was attributed to a strong Pd↔TiC interaction and the formation of oxygenated species on the TiC.