Synthesis of binary nanohybrid-based polygonal Pd nanoparticles for proficient photoelectrochemical oxidation of methanol and urea

The use of high-performance electrocatalysts is critical for the electrooxidation of methanol and urea, but there are some potential challenges. A binary nanocomposite was created based on palladium nanoparticles (PdNPs), and the anchored gold solution (HAuCl₄·3H₂O) was deposited onto PdNPs via a one-step photodeposition technique. Otherwise, the as-prepared graphene was added to PdNPs using the hydrothermal route to exhibit the second nanocomposite Pd/graphene. Pd deformed into a polygonal shape in the presence of polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) as a capping agent. Throughout the photodeposition of Au on the surface of PdNPs, the surface plasmonic resonance (SPR) was observed near 523 nm, resulting in a significant decrease in the diameter size from 27m to 18.6 nm. The attenuation of photoluminescence intensity also demonstrated that Pd/graphene is more efficient for charge separation, which is favorably reflected in the efficiency of the single fuel cell. After adding Au and graphene to PdNPs, the surface roughness was improved. Besides, electrochemical data showed that Pd/graphene has superior mass-specific behavior equal to 76.96 mC/mg under visible light illumination rather than in the dark state (52 mC/mg) during methanol oxidation. Otherwise, the mass-specific activity of Pd/Au under such urea conditions has a value of 31.86 mC/mg. To avoid the harsh conditions and to depend on the obtained promising data, it can be concluded that such a preparation method is a reliable synthetic route for the production of a nanocomposite system for attaining maximum electrochemical oxidation of both methanol and urea.