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Formic acid oxidation is an important electrocatalytic reaction in proton-exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells, in which both active sites and species adsorption/activation play key roles. In this study, we have developed hollow Pd-Ag alloy nanostructures with high active surface areas for application to electrocatalytic formic acid oxidation. When a certain amount of Ag is incorporated into a Pd lattice, which is already a highly active material for formic acid oxidation, the electrocatalytic activity can be significantly boosted. As indicated by theoretical simulations, coupling between Pd and Ag induces polarization charges on Pd catalytic sites, which can enhance the adsorption of HCOO* species. As a result, the designed electrocatalysts can achieve reduced Pd usage and enhanced catalytic properties at the same time. This study represents an approach that simultaneously fabricates hollow structures to increase the number of active sites and utilizes interatomic interactions to tune species adsorption/activation towards improved electrocatalytic performance.
This work was financially supported by the National Basic Research Program of China (No. 2014CB848900), National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 21471141, 21573212, and 21473166), Anhui Provincial Natural Science Foundation (No. 1508085MB24), Recruitment Program of Global Experts, CAS Hundred Talent Program, Hefei Science Center (CAS) Funds for Users with Potential, and Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (Nos. WK2060190025, WK2310000035, and WK2090050027).