Ultrasmall AuPd nanoclusters on amine-functionalized carbon blacks as high-performance bi-functional catalysts for ethanol electrooxidation and formic acid dehydrogenation

The synthesis of ultrasmall metal nanoclusters (NCs) with high catalytic activities is of great importance for the development of clean and renewable energy technologies but remains a challenge. Here we report a facile wet-chemical method to prepare ∼1.0 nm AuPd NCs supported on amine-functionalized carbon blacks. The AuPd NCs exhibit a specific activity of 5.98 mA cm_AuPd⁻² and mass activity of 5.25 A mg_AuPd⁻¹ for ethanol electrooxidation, which are far better than those of commercial Pd/C catalysts (1.74 mA cm_Pd⁻² and 0.54 A mg_Pd⁻¹). For formic acid dehydrogenation, the AuPd NCs have an initial turn over frequency of 49339 h⁻¹ at 298 K without any additive, which is much higher than those obtained for most of reported AuPd catalysts. The reported synthesis may represent a facile and low-cost approach to prepare other ultrasmall metal NCs with high catalytic activities for various applications.