Pd nanoparticles decorated ceria/lignin-derived carbon as effective electrocatalyst for ethylene glycol electrooxidation.

The catalyst for ethylene glycol electrooxidation reaction (EGEOR) is vitally important for direct ethylene glycol fuel cells. Nevertheless, the unsatisfactory EGEOR performance and high-cost of the catalysts still stands as an urgent obstacle that needs to be solved. Herein, we report a fabrication of ceria/nitrogen-doped carbon loaded Pd nanoparticles (Pd–CeO 2 /NC) as an electrocatalyst for EGEOR. During the catalyst synthesis, the renewable and abundant bioresource lignin serves as a precursor to prepare the nitrogen-doped porous carbon (NC), which can save the cost of the carbon support. Ulteriorly, the CeO 2 -doped NC acts as the support to immobilize the Pd nanoparticles by a water-phase reduction approach. Consequently, due to the synergistic effects between the highly-dispersed Pd nanoparticles, CeO 2 and NC, the resultant catalyst affords a current density of 46.39 mA cm−2, which is 2.86 times higher than that of commercial Pd/C (16.22 mA cm−2). Moreover, the developed catalyst also presents better EGEOR stability. This work not only develops a highly active EGEOR catalyst, but also provides an effective method for efficiently utilizing renewable biomass resources. • Multi-component Pd–CeO 2 /NC nanocomposites have been synthesized. • The renewable bioresource lignin serves as precursor for preparing carbon support. • The as-prepared catalysts present superior electrocatalytic performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]