Palladium metallene confined on MXene with increased hydroxyl binding strength for highly efficient ethanol electrooxidation
Wei Peng, Jing Zhou, Ying‐Rui Lu, Ming Peng, Dingwang Yuan, Ting‐Shan Chan, Yongwen Tan
Abstract
Rational design and synthesis of high-performance electrocatalysts for ethanol oxidation reaction (EOR) is crucial to large-scale commercialization of direct ethanol fuel cells, but it is still an incredible challenge. Herein, a unique Pd metallene/Ti 3 C 2 T x MXene (Pdene/Ti 3 C 2 T x )–supported electrocatalyst is constructed via an in-situ growth approach for high-efficiency EOR. The resulting Pdene/Ti 3 C 2 T x catalyst achieves an ultrahigh mass activity of 7.47 A mg Pd −1 under alkaline condition, as well as high tolerance to CO poisoning. In situ attenuated total reflection-infrared spectroscopy studies combined with density functional theory calculations reveal that the excellent EOR activity of Pdene/Ti 3 C 2 T x catalyst is attributed to the unique and stable interfaces which reduce the reaction energy barrier of *CH 3 CO intermediate oxidation and facilitate oxidative removal of CO poisonous species by increasing the Pd–OH binding strength.