Electronic structure engineering of bimetallic Pd-Au alloy nanocatalysts for improving electrocatalytic hydrodechlorination performance

Regulating the electronic structure of Pd catalyst for promoting electrocatalytic hydrodechlorination is promising but still challenging. Herein, we propose an electronic structure engineering for accelerating the hydrodechlorination process by desigining bimetallic Pd-Au alloy nanoparticles (ANs) with electron-rich Pd as high-efficiency electrocatalysts. The Pd7Au3 ANs exhibits the highest electrocatalytic hydrodechlorination activity, the 4-chlorophenol hydrodechlorination efficiency reaches 98.35 % within 4 h, and the mass activity is 0.47 h−1 mgPd−1, which is 7.83 times as high as that of pure Pd nanoparticles. The experimental characterization and theoretical calculation reveal that Pd atoms “obtain” electrons and gold atoms “lose” electrons in Pd-Au ANs, resulting in the formation of electron-rich Pd, which promotes the desorption of the dechlorination product phenol and accelerates the renewal of active sites. This work provides an electronic structure engineering strategy of Pd-based electrocatalysts for electrocatalytic hydrodechlorination, which opens a new opportunity for rational design and construction of high-performance hydrodechlorination catalysts.