Electronic regulation over Pd nanoparticles: One-pot synthesis of B, N Co-doping MXene-supported Pd catalyst for efficient ethanol oxidation

Multi-element doping support is considered an effective method to improve the electrocatalytic performance of catalysts, but there is a lack of simple and mild methods to prepare catalysts. In this article, dimethylamine borane is used as a heteroatom dopant and a metal-reducing agent at the same time, realizing the co-doping of B and N atoms and the deposition of metal Pd on Ti ₃C ₂ through a rapid, one-step hydrothermal method. By exploring the electrocatalytic properties of ethanol oxidation, the Pd/DMAB-Ti ₃C ₂ exhibits much higher electrochemically active surface areas, ethanol-oxidated current densities, and electrochemical stability than those of the single-doped and undoped catalysts. And the current densities after 350 redox cycles of Pd/DMAB-Ti ₃C ₂ can retain 74.6 % of the maximum capacity. Such different properties can be attributed to the synergy of B and N species in the Ti ₃C ₂ introduced by dimethylamine borane, which significantly affects the electron transfer and d band center of supported metal Pd, thus facilitating the progress of the EOR along a favorable pathway. This work provides a new insight into synthesizing the high-performance B and N co-doped supported metal catalyst through a rapid one-step synthesis.