Elucidating the Role of Single-Atom Pd for Electrocatalytic Hydrodechlorination

In this study, we loaded Pd catalysts onto a reduced graphene oxide (rGO) support in an atomically dispersed fashion [i.e., Pd single-atom catalysts (SACs) on rGO or Pd1/rGO] via a facile and scalable synthesis based on anchor-site and photoreduction techniques. The as-synthesized Pd1/rGO significantly outperformed the Pd nanoparticle (Pdnano) counterparts in the electrocatalytic hydrodechlorination of chlorinated phenols. Downsizing Pdnano to Pd1 leads to a substantially higher Pd atomic efficiency (14 times that of Pdnano), remarkably reducing the cost for practical applications. The unique single-atom architecture of Pd1 additionally affects the desorption energy of the intermediate, suppressing the catalyst poisoning by Cl–, which is a prevalent challenge with Pdnano. Characterization and experimental results demonstrate that the superior performance of Pd1/rGO originates from (1) enhanced interfacial electron transfer through Pd–O bonds due to the electronic metal–support interaction and (2) increased atomic H (H*) utilization efficiency by inhibiting H2 evolution on Pd1. This work presents an important example of how the unique geometric and electronic structure of SACs can tune their catalytic performance toward beneficial use in environmental remediation applications.