Facet-Controlled PdP Nanosheets for Ethanol Electrooxidation

Understanding the contribution of crystal facets to the adsorption/ desorption behavior of catalytic reaction intermediates is crucial for the design of highperformance electrocatalysts. In this work, we designed a synthesis strategy for ultrathin PdP nanosheets enclosed by different low-index facets, for example, {100}, {110}, and {111}, and studied their performance for electrocatalytic ethanol oxidation reaction (EOR). The results showed that the mass activity of the PdP nanosheets enclosed by the {100} facet was 4.07 A/mg, which was 1.43, 2.56, and 5.58 times as high as that of the PdP {110}, PdP {111}, and commercial Pd/C, respectively. Additionally, the PdP {100} displayed the best stability and the lowest activation energy (E-a), which further proved that the atomic configuration on the crystallographic {100} facet was greatly beneficial for EOR. The universality of this synthesis strategy was shown by producing nanocrystals with various amounts of P doping and elemental compositions (e.g., {100}-exposed PdAgP, PdAuP, PdCuP, and PdPtP).

Automated summary

The performance of ultrathin PdP nanosheets with different crystal facets in the electrocatalytic ethanol oxidation reaction was studied. It was found that the {100} facet exhibited the highest mass activity and stability, demonstrating the significant influence of crystal facets on the reaction performance.