Ethanol oxidation reaction at Pd-modified nickel foam obtained by PVD method

In this study, palladium-modified nickel foam substrate was applied to examine ethanol oxidation reaction (EOR) in 0.1 M NaOH supporting solution. An EOR catalyst was prepared by physical vapour deposition (PVD) of palladium onto Ni foam material. Temperature-dependent kinetics of the EOR were studied over the temperature range: 20-60°C by means of a.c. impedance spectroscopy and cyclic voltammetry techniques. Deposition of a noble metal additive was clearly exposed through scanning electron microscopy: SEM/EDX-supported analysis. Most importantly, this work investigated the effect of pre-deposited fullerene on nickel foam, on the catalytic (EOR) properties of such-produced Ni foam/Pd composite material.