Palladium-integrated MnO2/delaminated boron nanocomposite as an efficient electrocatalyst toward ethanol electrooxidation in an alkaline medium

Abstract The design of a high-performance electrocatalyst for ethanol oxidation is a key requirement for fabricating direct ethanol fuel cells with high efficiency and durability. Herein, palladium is integrated with MnO 2 /delaminated boron (B) to form MnO 2 -B-Pd nanocomposite. The ethanol electrooxidation studies of MnO 2 -B-Pd nanocomposite and Pd–C were investigated by recording cyclic voltammograms ( CV s) in 2 M NaOH + 2 M ethanol, which revealed that MnO 2 -B-Pd nanocomposite demonstrated higher mass activity of 592.75 mA mg −1 Pd as compared to Pd–C. Furthermore, the onset potential for the forward scan for MnO 2 -B-Pd nanocomposite is more negative (− 0.233 V), as compared to that of Pd–C (− 0.191 V), which suggests a lower electrocatalytic activation barrier and thus improved reaction kinetics of ethanol. The kinetics studies revealed that MnO 2 -B-Pd has a faster charge transfer reaction (electron transfer rate constant ( k o ) = 3.68 × 10 −4 ), and the overall electron transfer is controlled by diffusion of the reactant at the electrode/electrolyte interfaces.