Pd Ion-Exchange and Ammonia Etching of a Prussian Blue Analogue to Produce a High-Performance Water-Splitting Catalyst

The authors report an ammonia-assisted in situ cation-exchange method for the synthesis of dodecagon N-doped PdCoNi carbon-based nanosheets (Pd-e-NiCo-PBA-C) and explore the catalytic performance. Pd-e-NiCo-PBA-C exerts extremely low overpotential and Tafel slope for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) both in acidic and alkaline media, only 47 mV, 55 mV dec⁻¹ (pH = 0, HER) and 147 mV, 67 mV dec⁻¹ (pH = 14, HER), and 309 mV, 67 mV dec⁻¹ (pH = 14, OER), outperforming commercial IrO₂-based and Pt-based catalysts. In addition, after 5000 cycles, the linear sweep voltammetry curve shows a negligible shift, indicating excellent stability performance. To test its overall water-splitting performance, Pd-e-NiCo-PBA-C is applied as both cathode and anode materials. A high current density of 33 mA cm⁻² at a battery voltage of 1.6 V is obtained, with the catalytic activity maintained at 97.3% after over 50 h. To get a further insight into the superior OER and HER performance, theoretical calculations are carried out, the better performance originates from the affinity difference of Pd and Ni atoms for gas atoms, and the replacement of inert atoms can decrease the binding energy and enhance the electrocatalytic activity.