A Quick Joule‐Heating Coupled with Solid‐Phase Synthesis for Carbon‐Supported Pd–Se Nanoparticles Toward High‐Efficiency Electrocatalysis

Abstract

With respect to the potential of palladium (Pd)‐based nanomaterials in catalyzing typical electrochemical reactions, herein, a strategy that couples the quick Joule‐heating with a solid phase synthesis for producing carbon‐supported Pd–Se nanoparticles with welcome features is reported, e.g., fine sizes, clean surfaces, and controlled crystal phases toward electrocatalysis of oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and ethanol oxidation reaction (EOR) in an alkaline medium. Principally, the introduction of Se into Pd alters its electronic properties and weakens the adsorption of key reaction intermediates on the Pd–Se nanoparticles during the ORR and EOR process, thus endowing them with better electrocatalysis for the same electrochemical reactions. Impressively, the carbon‐supported Pd–Se nanoparticles exhibit phase‐dependent electrocatalysis toward ORR and EOR. In particular, the cubic Pd17Se15 nanoparticles supported on carbon substrate show mass activity of 0.206 A mgPd−1 and specific activity of 0.546 mA cm−2 at 0.9 V for ORR in 0.1 m KOH electrolyte, while the orthorhombic PdSe2 nanoparticles show a mass activity of 3.79 A mgPd−1 for EOR, higher than that of their cubic counterpart and commercial Pd/C catalyst. The universality of this synthetic strategy in manufacturing carbon‐supported noble metal chalcogenide nanoparticles and highlighting its potential in designing highly efficient electrocatalysts are emphasized.