Engineering the highly efficient heterogeneous catalyst based on PdCu nanoalloy and nitrogen-doped Ti3C2Tx MXene for ethanol electrooxidation

Improving the electrocatalytic performance by modulating the surface and interface electronic structure of noble metals is still a research hotspot in electrocatalysis . Herein, we prepared the heterogeneous catalyst based on the well-dispersed PdCu nanoalloy and the N -doped Ti 3 C 2 T x MXene support (PdCu/N-Ti 3 C 2 T x ) via in situ growth of PdCu nanoparticles on the fantastic N-Ti 3 C 2 T x sheets. By exploring the electrocatalytic properties of ethanol oxidation reaction (EOR), the composition optimized Pd 1 Cu 1 /N-Ti 3 C 2 T x delivers higher mass activity/specific activity/intrinsic activity (2200.7 mA mg Pd -1 /13.1 mA cm −2 /2.2 s −1 ), anti-poisoning ability and stability than those of Pd/N-Ti 3 C 2 T x , Pd 1 Cu 1 /Ti 3 C 2 T x and commercial Pd/C, which can be attributed to the modified surface electronic features of Pd by the participation of Cu atoms and N-Ti 3 C 2 T x MXene , as well as the “metal-carrier” effect between the PdCu nanoalloy and N-Ti 3 C 2 T x heterogeneous interface. Furthermore, the conductivity of N-Ti 3 C 2 T x MXene can be improved by N -doping, and the abundant terminal groups (-O, –OH, -F and N) on the N-Ti 3 C 2 T x surface can promote the electron exchange between PdCu and N-Ti 3 C 2 T x . This work provides an effective strategy for engineering heterogeneous electrocatalysts for enhanced electrocatalytic EOR by adjusting the interfacial electronic structure of noble metals.