Surface Plasmon Resonance Boost Electrocatalytic Alcohol Oxidation over Three-Dimensional PdM (M = Au, Ag, Cu) Nanosheet Assemblies

Photoelectrocatalytic nanomaterials are promising for direct alcohol fuel cells, but the construction of high-efficiency catalysts remains difficult. We herein successfully synthesized three-dimensional (3D) PdM nanosheet assemblies (PdM NSAs, M = Au, Ag, and Cu) through a seed-mediated growth method, which displayed a typical 3D nanoflower morphology assembled from many two-dimensional ultrathin nanosheets. Due to the open 3D structure and the synergistic and electronic effects between Pd and Ag, the optimized PdAg NSAs showed the highest mass activity (9378 mA mg–1) for the ethylene glycol oxidation reaction. More interestingly, when irradiated with visible light, the mass activity increased to 14 590 mA mg–1, 12.1 times higher than that of the commercial Pd/C (1205 mA mg–1). In addition, the as-obtained catalysts also showed better long-term durability than that of the commercial Pd/C under the condition of with or without visible-light illumination. This work highlights the utilization of light energy in designing excellent photoelectrocatalysts to promote the photoelectrocatalytic performance of anode catalysts for fuel cells.