Uncovering the effect of lattice strain and atomic-scale cavity deficiency on the efficient oxygen reduction of a PdW bimetallene

Key Points

• This research aims to uncover how tensile strain and atomic-scale defects affect the oxygen reduction reaction activity in d-PdW bimetallene catalysts.
• Investigated the effect of tensile strain and atomic-scale cavity defects on d-PdW bimetallene
• Conducted X-ray absorption characterizations
• Performed density functional theory (DFT) calculations to analyze electronic structure
• d-PdW bimetallene demonstrated excellent ORR performance with a half-wave potential of 0.96 V vs. RHE
• Achieved a mass activity of 5.2 A mg_catalyst^-1 at 0.9 V
• Findings suggest that lattice strain and ASC defects significantly enhance ORR activity