p-d Orbital Hybridization Induced by Asymmetrical FeSn Dual Atom Sites Promotes the Oxygen Reduction Reaction

With more flexible active sites and intermetal interaction, dual-atom catalysts (DACs) have emerged as a new frontier in various electrocatalytic reactions. Constructing a typical p-d orbital hybridization between p-block and d-block metal atoms may bring new avenues for manipulating the electronic properties and thus boosting the electrocatalytic activities. Herein, we report a distinctive heteronuclear dual-metal atom catalyst with asymmetrical FeSn dual atom sites embedded on a two-dimensional C2N nanosheet (FeSn–C2N), which displays excellent oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) performance with a half-wave potential of 0.914 V in an alkaline electrolyte. Theoretical calculations further unveil the powerful p-d…

• NN
  National Natural Science Foundation of China

  Awards: 22201262, 22375019, U22A20143
• CP
  China Postdoctoral Science Foundation

  Award: 2021M701864
• BI
  Beijing Institute of Technology Research Fund Program for Young Scholars

  Award: 2022CX01011