Here we report on the organometallic synthesis of polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP)-stabilized palladium-rhodium nanostructures that display high electrochemical properties when used as carbon-supported electrodes (PdxRh1-x-PVP/C) for methanol oxidation reaction (MOR). These were synthesized by hydrogenation tris(dibenzylideneacetone)dipalladium(0) (Pd2(dba)3) and tris(allyl) rhodium (Rh(?3-C3H5)3) co...

The growth, and reactivity of monolayer V2O5 films supported on TiO2(110) produced via the oxidation of vapor-deposited vanadium were studied using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and temperature programmed desorption (TPD). Oxidation of vapor-deposited vanadium in 10-7 Torr of O2 at 600 K produced vanadia films that contained primarily V+3, while oxidation in 10-3 Torr at 400 K produced...

Mastery over the structure of nanomaterials enables control of their properties to enhance their performance for a given application. Herein we demonstrate the design and fabrication of Pt-based nanomaterials with enhanced catalytic activity and superior selectivity toward the reactions in direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs) upon the deep understanding of the mechanisms of these electrochemical ...

Previous to 1950, when Bonnichsenl isolated crystalline alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) and showed that it did not react with methanol,$ it was believed that the ADH system was responsible for the oxidation of all primary aliphatic alcohols, including methanol (FIGURE 1 ) . This observation redirected attention to the peroxidative system as a means of oxidizing methanol. As early as 1936, Keilin an...

PtRu catalyst is a promising anodic catalyst for direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs) but the slow reaction kinetics reduce the performance of DMFCs. Therefore, this study attempts to improve the performance of PtRu catalysts by adding nickel (Ni) and iron (Fe). Multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) are used to increase the active area of the catalyst and to improve the catalyst performance. Elec...

The direct catalytic conversion of methane to liquid oxygenated compounds, such as methanol or dimethyl ether, at low temperature using molecular oxygen is a grand challenge in C-H activation that has never been met with synthetic, heterogeneous catalysts. We report the first demonstration of direct, catalytic oxidation of methane into methanol with molecular oxygen over copper-exchanged zeolit...

In this paper we highlight the important contribution made by Bob Madix to the understanding of catalysis at single crystal surfaces, focusing here on a favourite model system of his, namely the oxidation of methanol on Cu(110). Madix showed clearly that the methoxy was the pivotal intermediate involved, and it is bound to the surface through the oxygen atom. Here we demonstrate the nature of t...

In this paper, a facile two-step Galvanic replacement reaction (GRR) is proposed to prepare Pt-Ag tubular dendritic nano-forests (tDNFs) in ambient condition for enhancing methanol oxidation reaction (MOR) under solar illumination. In the first GRR, a homogeneous layer of silver dendritic nano-forests (DNFs) with 10 μm in thickness was grown on Si wafer in 5 min in silver nitride (AgNO3) and bu...