Compressive Strain in Core-shell Au-Pd Nanoparticles Introduced by Lateral Confinement of Deformation Twinnings to Enhance The ORR Performance

In this work, quasi-spherical, uniform gold nanoparticles with rich deformation twinning (Audt NPs) were firstly synthesized with the assistance of copper (II) ions. Then, these Audt NPs were used as the cores for the fabrication of core-shell (CS) Audt–Pd NPs with ultrathin Pd layers, which also can bear compressive strain due to the formation of corrugated structured Pd shells led by the lateral confinement imposed by deformation twinning in the Au cores. The presence of compressive strain in the CS Audt–Pd NPs can result in the widening of the d-band width of Pd shell and further the downshift of their d-band center, which then can improve the desorption ability to intermediates and still maintain the adsorption ability to the reactants due to the broad adsorption potential range. Taking the oxidation reduction reaction (ORR) and the ethanol oxidation reaction (EtOR) as examples, the as-prepared Audt-Pd NPs indeed exhibited superior catalytic performances due to the synergism of compressive strain and ...