Efficient Electrocatalytic Hydrodechlorination and Detoxification of Chlorophenols by Palladium–Palladium Oxide Heterostructure

Electrocatalytic hydrodechlorination is a promising approach for simultaneous pollutant purification and valorization. However, the lack of electrocatalysts with high catalytic activity and selectivity limits its application. Here, we propose a palladium–palladium oxide (Pd-PdO) heterostructure for efficient electrocatalytic hydrodechlorination of recalcitrant chlorophenols and selective formation of phenol with superior Pd-mass activity (1.35 min–1 mgPd–1), which is 4.4 times of commercial Pd/C and about 10–100 times of reported Pd-based catalysts. The Pd-PdO heterostructure is stable in real water matrices and achieves selective phenol recovery (>99%) from the chlorophenol mixture and efficient detoxification along chlorophenol removal. Experimental results and computational modeling reveal that the adsorption/desorption behaviors of zerovalent Pd and PdO sites in the Pd-PdO heterostructure are optimized and a synergy is realized to promote atomic hydrogen (H*) generation, transfer, and utilization: H* is efficiently generated at zerovalent Pd sites, transferred to PdO sites, and eventually consumed in the dechlorination reaction at PdO sites. This work provides a promising strategy to realize the synergy of Pd with different valence states in the metal–metal oxide heterostructure for simultaneous decontamination, detoxification, and resource recovery from halogenated organic pollutants.