Tensile-Strained Holey Pd Metallene toward Efficient and Stable Electrocatalysis

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Electrochemistry
• Catalysis

Background:

• Noble metal-based metallenes are crucial for energy catalysis.
• Controlling metallene surface structures for enhanced catalytic properties is challenging due to their instability.

Purpose of the Study:

• To synthesize tensile-strained, holey palladium (Pd) metallene with precisely controlled surface structures.
• To investigate the enhanced catalytic activity and stability of the synthesized metallene for energy conversion reactions.

Main Methods:

• Synthesis of tensile-strained, holey Pd metallene via oxidative etching using hydrogen peroxide.
• Utilizing pre-prepared Pd metallene as a catalyst to decompose hydrogen peroxide.
• Preferential removal of Pd atoms in amorphous regions during the etching process.

Main Results:

• The synthesized tensile-strained, holey Pd metallene exhibits significantly enhanced catalytic activity and stability compared to normal Pd metallene.
• The material shows improved performance in both oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and formic acid oxidation.
• Enhanced ORR activity is attributed to the electrostatic repulsion between intermediate O* and dopant O, weakening the adsorption energy of O*.

Conclusions:

• A facile and economical strategy for precisely shaping metallene-based nanoarchitectures has been developed.
• The tensile-strained, holey Pd metallene offers broad applications in energy systems and sensing devices.
• This approach provides a pathway to overcome the limitations of intrinsic thermodynamic instability in metallenes for catalysis.