Nickel ii nitrate hexahydrate

The following chemicals were used for the synthesis of the anode and cathode catalysts: Vulcan XC72R carbon black (CABOT Corporation), palladium chloride (PdCl₂, anhydrous, 59–60% Pd basis, Aldrich), nickel(ii) nitrate hexahydrate (Ni(NO₃)₂·6H₂O, 99% trace metal basis, Aldrich), bismuth(iii) chloride (BiCl₃, reagent grade, ≥98%, Aldrich), hydrochloric acid (HCl, ROTIPURAN® 37% fuming, p.a., ACS, ISO, Carl Roth), sodium borohydride (NaBH₄, purity of 97%, Alfa Aesar), sodium hydroxide (NaOH, ≥98%, ACS, pellets, Fluka), ultrapure water (∼18 MΩ cm, Barnstead NANOpureWater Purification system), potassium permanganate (KMnO₄, ≥99.0% p.a., Merck), and silver nitrate (AgNO₃, ≥99.8% p.a., Merck).
The following materials and chemicals were utilized for the MEA production and the half and single cell tests: ethanol (EtOH, 99.9% p.a., Roth), 2-propanol (99.9% p.a., Roth), potassium hydroxide (KOH, ≥85%, p.a., pellets), CS/N-rGONRs anion exchange membranes developed in our previous work,¹⁴ Nafion™ solution (NS-5, PTSA 5%, Quintech), commercial Pt/C (platinum, nominally 40% on carbon black, Alfa Aesar), carbon cloth (ELAT—hydrophilic plain cloth, fuel cell store, 0.406 mm thick), and carbon paper (Sigracet 29 BC, fuel cell store, 0.235 mm thick).

Palladium chloride (PdCl₂, anhydrous, 59–60% Pd basis, Aldrich), sodium chloride (NaCl, ≥ 99.5%, Carl Roth), nickel(II) nitrate hexahydrate (Ni(NO₃)₂⋅6H₂O, Aldrich), bismuth(III) chloride (BiCl₃, reagent grade, ≥ 98%, Aldrich), hydrochloric acid (HCl (aq), Carl Roth), Vulcan XC72R carbon black (CABOT Corporation, USA), sodium borohydride (NaBH₄, purity of 97%, Alfa Aesar), 2-propanol (≥ 99.8%, Honeywell), sodium hydroxide (NaOH, Fluka), and ultrapure water (~ 18 MΩ∙cm, Barnstead NANOpure Water Purification system) were used for the development of Pd₈₅Ni₁₀Bi₅ nanoparticles on the Vulcan XC72R carbon support material as anode catalysts. A commercial Pd/C (40 wt.%, Fuel Cell Store) catalyst was used as reference material.