Interfacial engineered PdRu/C with robust poison tolerance for oxygen reduction reaction and zinc-air battery.

• Small sized PdRu particles uniformly loaded on carbon are synthesized by Si-H bond. • PdRu interface is formed under the function of SiO. • The interface enhances ORR activity and anti-poisoning performance. • Zinc-air battery with Pd 9 Ru 1 /C as an air cathode exhibits the remarkable performance with power density 240 mW cm−2. PdRu bimetallic catalyst is synthesized by simple stirring heating method with the help of Si-H bond. The as-prepared product shows an excellent ORR performance and amazing resistance to a variety of poison systems. This outstanding performance may due to the bimetallic interface engineering between Pd and Ru. [Display omitted] Developing a highly efficient and robust poison tolerance catalyst for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) is significantly critical for sustainable energy convert systems. Herein, an interfacial engineered PdRu/C is prepared by reduction of silicon-hydrogen bonds. The interface between Pd and Ru is beneficial for exposing the active site, enhancing charge transfer and adjusting the adsorption energy barrier, resulting in the excellent ORR performances. Compared with commercial Pt/C (0.84 V) and commercial Pd/C (0.84 V), the optimal Pd 9 Ru 1 /C demonstrates high electrocatalytic activity with half-wave potential up of 0.86 V in 0.1 M KOH solution. Meanwhile, the experimental results indicate that bimetallic interface engineering can greatly enhance toxicity resistance to various poisons, including CO, methanol, NO x , SO x and PO x. When they are applied to zinc-air battery as an air cathode, the battery exhibits an open circuit voltage of 1.48 V. Interestingly, the power density reaches up to 240 mW cm−2, which is superior to those of commercial Pt/C (219 mW cm−2) and commercial Pd/C (128 mW cm−2). This work opens up an effective strategy to conceive interfacial hybrid for electrocatalysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]