Tuning the Composition of PdCuNi Hollow Nanospheres for Low Cost and Efficient Catalyst Towards Glycol Electrooxidation

In this research, we reported an effective approach to prepare low cost and efficient electrocatalyst for the glycol electrooxidation. The synthetic process involves the replacement reactions between CuCl 2 /H 2 PdCl 4 and Ni nanospheres template. Through controlling the precursor ratio, the Pd/Cu/Ni ratio of the final trimetallic products can be tuned. The prepared electrocatalysts present a monodispersed nanospheres structure with a hollow cavity. The prepared Pd 41 Cu 27 Ni 9 shows the best catalytic activity (0.021 A cm −2 at 0.9 V vs. RHE) for glycol electrooxidation, which is much higher than that of the commercial Pd/C (0.0014 A cm −2 at 0.9 V vs. RHE).