Engineering the highly efficient heterogeneous catalyst based on PdCu nanoalloy and nitrogen-doped TiCT MXene for ethanol electrooxidation.

Improving the electrocatalytic performance by modulating the surface and interface electronic structure of noble metals is still a research hotspot in electrocatalysis. Herein, we prepared the heterogeneous catalyst based on the well-dispersed PdCu nanoalloy and the N-doped TiCT MXene support (PdCu/N-TiCT) via in situ growth of PdCu nanoparticles on the fantastic N-TiCT sheets. By exploring the electrocatalytic properties of ethanol oxidation reaction (EOR), the composition optimized PdCu/N-TiCT delivers higher mass activity/specific activity/intrinsic activity (2200.7 mA mg/13.1 mA cm/2.2 s), anti-poisoning ability and stability than those of Pd/N-TiCT, PdCu/TiCT and commercial Pd/C, which can be attributed to the modified surface electronic features of Pd by the participation of Cu atoms and N-TiCT MXene, as well as the "metal-carrier" effect between the PdCu nanoalloy and N-TiCT heterogeneous interface. Furthermore, the conductivity of N-TiCT MXene can be improved by N-doping, and the abundant terminal groups (-O, -OH, -F and N) on the N-TiCT surface can promote the electron exchange between PdCu and N-TiCT. This work provides an effective strategy for engineering heterogeneous electrocatalysts for enhanced electrocatalytic EOR by adjusting the interfacial electronic structure of noble metals.