Polar bonds induced strong Pd-support electronic interaction drives remarkably enhanced oxygen reduction activity and stability

The strong metal-support interaction (SMSI) effect is attractive for improving the activity and durability of metal catalyst. Here, we uncovered that the strong polar bond in support can significantly boost the electrocatalytic oxygen reduction activity and durability of Pd nanoparticles (NPs). The mass-specific activity and surface-specific activity of optimized Pd/p-BNO at 0.90 V (vs.RHE) is almost 1.9 and 2.2 times higher than that of commercial Pt/C catalyst, respectively. By means of a joint experimental and computational study, the enhanced activity of Pd/p-BNO stems from the electron directly transfer through the strong polar O B bonds from support to Pd NPs leading to the electron-rich Pd surface. Moreover, the strong bonding effect of the caused by polarity bond effectively improves the stability of Pd/p-BNO. This progress demonstrates the vital role of polar chemical bonds in support on inducing SMSI effect, which might open up new opportunities in designing superior heterogeneous catalysts. In this paper, O B bonds with larger polarity were successfully introduced to porous boron nitride support (p-BNO) to realize the electron directional transfer from the support to Pd catalyst. Benefit from the constructed SMSI effect, Pd/p-BNO catalyst displays an enhanced activity and durability in both alkaline and acidic electrolyte. • A controllable route was proposed to introduce O−B bonds to the p-BNO. • p-BNO support offers stable anchoring sites for the formation and subsequent attachment of Pd NPs. • The electron transfers from p-BNO to Pd NPs lead to an electron-rich Pd surface. • The durability of Pd is greatly enhanced due to the strong (O−B)⋯Pd interaction.