Facile Synthesis of PdAgCo Trimetallic Nanoparticles for Formic Acid Electrochemical Oxidation

PdAg bimetallic and PdAgCo trimetallic nanoparticles (NPs) are synthesized by a one-pot method in an organic solvent medium. Our results show that the catalytic activity of PdAgCo/C (1133.249 mA mgPd−1) for formic acid oxidation (FAO) is ca. 2.4 times larger than commercial Pd/C (483.563 mA mgPd−1) and 1.7 times larger than PdAg/C (680.741 mA mgPd−1). This study indicates that Co doping in PdAg bimetallic NPs can significantly improve its FAO activity. It is expected that the as-synthesized PdAgCo trimetallic NPs could be used as high-performance catalysts for direct formic acid fuel cells (DFAFCs).