Surface Nitridation of PdCu Nanosheets to Promote Charge Transfer and Suppress CO Poisoning toward Ethanol Electrooxidation

Abstract

Abstract Although PdCu alloy is recognized as an active catalyst for ethanol electrooxidation, its activity needs significant enhancement to satisfy the practical application. In this study, surface nitrided PdCu nanosheets are constructed through a facile nitrogen plasma treatment. The obtained catalyst shows highly enhanced catalytic activity and stability toward ethanol oxidation reaction in comparison with normal PdCu nanosheets and Pd nanosheets. The improvement should be ascribed to the combined electronic and structural effects from introduced Cu and facile surface nitridation, which promote charge transfer and suppress CO poisoning. This work offers a guideline to design and synthesize efficient catalysts for energy electrocatalysis by rational surface engineering.