Fabrication of cobaltous telluride and carbon composite as a promising carrier for boosting electro oxidation of ethylene glycol on palladium in alkaline medium.

The development of highly active and earth-rich electrocatalysts remains a formidable challenge for the commercialization of fuel cells. Herein, a composite carrier composed of cobaltous telluride (CoTe) and carbon (C) has been designed for the first time to enhance the electrocatalytic performance of palladium (Pd) nanoparticles (NPs) for the electro-oxidation of ethylene glycol (EG). Remarkably, the mass activity for the as-prepared Pd/CoTe-C catalyst during the ethylene glycol oxidation reaction (EGOR) is found to reach up to 3917.3 mA mg, which is 2.2 times higher than that of Pd/Co-C (1785.0 mA mg) and 4.1 times greater than that of commercial Pd/C catalyst (962.4 mA mg), exceeding that obtained for most Pd-based electrocatalysts reported thus far. In particular, the Pd/CoTe-C catalyst shows better electrochemical stability toward the EGOR than the Pd/Co-C and commercial Pd/C catalysts. Thus, the Pd/CoTe-C electrocatalyst is expected to exhibit broad application prospects in the field of fuel cells.