The Authors

Philippe Poizot is presently Assistant Professor at the Department of Chemistry (LRCS, UMR 6007) of the Université de Picardie Jules Verne (Amiens, France) where he studied Chemistry, and completed his Ph.D. in Materials Science in 2001. His research topics are mainly focused on the lithium-ion battery and the synthesis of nanostructured electrode materials using soft chemistry routes such as electrodeposition.

Lydia Laffont-Dantras is Assistant Professor at the Department of Chemistry (LRCS, UMR 6007) of the Université de Picardie Jules Verne (Amiens, France). Her principal interest is the study of organic and inorganic compounds by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS). Her research work is currently focused on the characterisation (morphology and nanostructure) of electrochemical devices such as electrochromic thin films or lithium-ion batteries by TEM and EELS.

Jacques Simonet is Directeur de Recherche Emérite in the Electrochemistry Group, Université de Rennes 1 (UMR 6226), France. His principal interests are organic electrochemistry, the activation of organic reactions by electron transfer, electro-polymerisation and the formation of redox polymers. He also researches on the reversible cathodic charging of precious metals (platinum and palladium) in super-dry conditions, in contact with polar organic solvents containing electrolytes, mimicking Zintl phases for transition metals.

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A Disordered Copper-Palladium Alloy Used as a Cathode Material

Philippe Poizot

Lydia Laffont-Dantras

LRCS, UMR 6007, Université de Picardie Jules Verne, 33 rue Saint-Leu, 80039 Amiens Cedex, France

Jacques Simonet

Laboratoire MaSCE, UMR 6226, Université de Rennes 1, Campus de Beaulieu, 35042 Rennes Cedex, France;

Platinum Metals Review

Volume 52 Issue 2 April 2008 Pages 84-95
DOI 10.1595/147106708X292517

Article Synopsis

A novel method of forming a palladised copper (Cu/Pd) interface of well defined structure is described. The CuPd alloy is straightforwardly obtained by immersing a copper substrate in acidic solutions of palladium salts. Depending on the composition of the salt/acid solution, the copper surface is virtually instantly covered with a CuPd deposit. With nitric and sulfuric acid solutions and the corresponding Pd(II)-based salt, the deposit is composed of nanoparticles of disordered CuPd alloy dispersed at the copper interface. The alloy-modified surface was successfully used as an efficient promoter of bond cleavage reactions, especially those of carbon–iodide and carbon–bromide bonds in alkyl halides. The catalytic activity is specifically characterised by a very large shift in potential as between the use of a regular glassy carbon surface and the palladised copper interface. With alkyl halides (RBr and RI), the shift toward less cathodic potentials is so large that it enables the one-electron cleavage of C–I and C–Br bonds. This method should enable the heterogeneous generation of free alkyl radicals as transients in electrochemical reactions. These novel cathodic materials could also be of considerable interest for the disposal of halogenated waste.

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