Layered Pd oxide on PdSn nanowires for boosting direct HO synthesis.

Hydrogen peroxide (HO) has the wide range of applications in industry and living life. However, the development of the efficient heterogeneous catalyst in the direct HO synthesis (DHS) from H and O remains a formidable challenge because of the low HO producibility. Herein, we develop a two-step approach to prepare PdSn nanowire catalysts, which comprises Pd oxide layered on PdSn nanowires (Pd/PdSn-NW). The Pd/PdSn-NW displays superior reactivity in the DHS at zero Celcius, presenting the HO producibility of 528 mol kg·h and HO selectivity of >95%. A layer of Pd oxide on the PdSn nanowire generates bi-coordinated Pd, leading to the different adsorption behaviors of O, H and HO on the Pd/PdSn-NW. Furthermore, the weak adsorption of HO on the Pd/PdSn-NW contributes to the low activation energy and high HO producibility. This surface engineering approach, depositing metal layer on metal nanowires, provides a new insight in the rational designing of efficient catalyst for DHS.