Pd–Sb Rhombohedra with an Unconventional Rhombohedral Phase as a Trifunctional Electrocatalyst
Bingyan Xu, Tianyang Liu, Xiaocong Liang, Wenjie Dou, Hongbo Geng, Zhiyang Yu, Yafei Li, Ying Zhang, Qi Shao, Jingmin Fan, Xiaoqing Huang
Abstract
Abstract Crystal phase engineering is an important strategy for designing noble‐metal‐based catalysts with optimized activity and stability. From the thermodynamic point of view, it remains a great challenge to synthesize unconventional phases of noble metals. Here, a new class of Pd‐based nanostructure with unconventional rhombohedral Pd 20 Sb 7 phase is successfully synthesized. Benefiting from the high proportion of the unique exposed Pd 20 Sb 7 (003) surface, Pd 20 Sb 7 rhombohedra display much enhanced ethanol oxidation reaction (EOR) and oxygen reduction reaction performance compared with commercial Pd/C. Moreover, Pd 20 Sb 7 rhombohedra are also demonstrated as an effective air cathode in non‐aqueous Li–air batteries with an overpotential of only 0.24 V. Density functional theory calculations reveal that the unique exposed facets of Pd 20 Sb 7 rhombohedra can not only reduce the excessive adsorption of CH 3 CO* to CH 3 COOH on Pd for promoting EOR process, but also weaken CO binding and CO poisoning. This work provides a new class of unconventional intermetallic nanomaterials with enhanced electrocatalytic activity.