The influence of thermal treatment on the electrochemical properties of carbon-Ni-Pd composites

Abstract

Resorcinol-formaldehyde (RF) hydrogel and RF-nickel-palladium (RF-Ni-Pd) hydrogel were synthesized by sol-gel polycondensation followed by ambient drying. Carbon gel and carbon-nickel-palladium doped gels were prepared by carbonizing the RF and RF-Ni-Pd gels at 900°C under a nitrogen atmosphere. The goal of this study was to determine the effect of oxidative thermal treatment on the electrochemical activity of nickel-palladium doped carbon gels (C-Ni-Pd). The scanning electron microscopy analysis, adsorption and X-ray diffraction measurements showed that the admixture of Ni and Pd to carbon matrix resulted in the modification of morphological, porous and crystalline features. It has been demonstrated that composite C-Ni-Pd composed of sphere-like granules incrusted with well-crystalline nickel and palladium particles exhibits electrochemical activity in 6 M KOH aqueous solution. Thermal treatment of the composite carried out in air at 450°C brought about the improvement of electrochemical activity in the potential range of the hydrogen sorption/desorption reaction. © 2014 The Author(s).