Electrochemical reduction of O 2 (oxygen reduction reaction; ORR) providesa no pportunity to achievet he commerciala pplication of clean energy,b ut it remains challenging, so the rational design of inexpensive and efficient electrocatalysts is required. Palladium-based electrocatalysts have emerged as ac lass of the mostp romising candidates for the ORR, which could accelerate O 2 adsorption,d issociation, and electron transfer.H owever,t he metal Pd atoms tend to aggregate into nanoparticles, drivenb yt he tendency of the metals urface free energy to decrease, which significantly reducest he atom utilization efficiency and the catalytic performance. Herein, af acile double solvent impregnation methodi sd eveloped for the synthesis of highly dispersed Pd nanoparticles supported on hollow carbon spheres (Pd-HCS), which could act as efficient electrocatalysts for the ORRi nb asic solution.S ystematici nvestigation reveals that the nitrogen-containing and oxygen-containing functional groups (especially ÀCOOHg roups)a re essential for achieving the homogenous dispersion of Pd nanoparticles. Significantly,t he optimized Pd-HCS electrocatalyst with homogeneously dispersed Pd nanoparticles and PdÀNs ites delivers high electrocatalytic activity for the ORR and excellent stability,w ithouts ignificant decay in onset potential and half-potential and good resistance to methanol crossover.T his work offersanew route for the rational design of efficient ORR electrocatalysts toward advanced materials and emerging applications.
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