General Strategy for Synthesis of Pd3M (M = Co and Ni) Nanoassemblies as High‐Performance Catalysts for Electrochemical Oxygen Reduction

Abstract

AbstractNanoassemblies have attracted considerable attention because of their unique structural advantages, such as the high porosity, abundant surface defects, and low‐coordinated atomic steps, which are of importance to improve electrocatalytic activity and stability. However, developing effective and general synthetic methods for preparation of well‐defined Pd‐based nanoassemblies remains a challenge. Herein, a facile, effective, and general synthetic strategy for fabrication of high‐quality Pd3M (M = Co and Ni) nanoassemblies is developed. It is identified that arginine is pivotal for control of the nucleation and growth process of nanocrystals, where there is strong self‐assembly capacity between arginine molecules as well as effective coordination interaction between guanidine group of arginine with metal ions, endowing its unique dual‐function for the structure‐controllable synthesis of Pd3M alloy. The electrocatalytic performances of Pd3M nanoassemblies for the oxygen reduction reaction are studied through the rotating ring‐disk electrode technique. As expected, both Pd3Co and Pd3Ni nanoassemblies exhibit the more positive onset reduced‐overpotentials and the better catalytic stabilities compared to their counterparts. This work opens a new and general guideline for designing PdM alloy nanoassemblies with exclusive active sites for boosting energy electrocatalysis.