Palladium selenides as active methanol tolerant cathode materials for direct methanol fuel cell

Palladium selenides, PdSe, Pd₃Se and PdSe₂ have been prepared by the hydrothermal method and investigated for their structural and electrocatalytic properties toward the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) using SEM/TEM, XRD, cyclic and linear sweep voltammetries. The crystallites of PdSe and PdSe₂ are found to follow tetragonal and orthorhombic crystal structures, respectively. The PdSe electrode in 0.5 M H₂SO₄ exhibits significantly higher electrocatalytic activity than the Pd₃Se or PdSe₂ electrode under similar experimental conditions. Further, a change in the palladium/selenium ratio from unity in the catalyst results in low ORR activity.