Mesoporous Ti(0.5)Cr(0.5)N supported PdAg nanoalloy as highly active and stable catalysts for the electro-oxidation of formic acid and methanol.

We report a robust noncarbon Ti0.5Cr0.5N support synthesized by an efficient solid-solid phase separation method. This ternary nitride exhibits highly porous, sintered, and random network structure with a crystallite size of 20-40 nm, resulting in a high specific surface area. It is not only kinetically stable in both acid and alkaline media, but also electrochemically stable in the potential range of fuel cell operation. Two typical anode reactions, formic acid oxidation in acid media and methanol oxidation in alkaline media, are employed to investigate the possibility of Ti0.5Cr0.5N as an alternative to carbon. Bimetallic PdAg nanoparticles (∼4 nm) act as anode catalysts for the two anode reactions. PdAg/Ti0.5Cr0.5N exhibits much higher mass activity and durability for the two reactions than PdAg/C and Pd/C catalyst, suggesting that mesoporous Ti0.5Cr0.5N is a very promising support in both acid and alkaline media.