Mo‐Single‐Atom‐Enabled Functional‐Site‐Decoupled PdMo Catalysts for High‐Power Borane Fuel Cells and Alkaline Water Electrolysis

ABSTRACT Dimethylamine borane (DMAB) is a promising solid fuel for borane fuel cells due to its high hydrogen content and safety. However, the development is hindered by electrochemically sluggish DMAB oxidation reaction (DMABOR), since strongly adsorbed hydrogen‐containing reaction intermediates (*H) poison active sites. Herein, a Mo‐single‐atom‐enabled functional‐site‐decoupled PdMo catalyst is developed by combining functional‐site decoupling with atomic‐level oxophilic engineering. Spectroscopy and theoretical studies reveal that the catalyst comprises PdMo alloy particles (APs) and Mo single atoms (SAs), wherein alloyed Mo modulates electronic structure of Pd to weaken *H binding, and Mo SAs act as *OH‐affinitive Lewis‐acid sites that stabilize interfacial *OH, which is proposed to assist the oxidative removal of Pd‐bound *H. Notably, PdMo/KB was applied as the anode in direct DMAB fuel cells (D‐DMABFCs) for the first time, enabling an outstanding peak power density of 1195 mW cm −2 and stable operation for over 160 h, highlighting the potential of borane fuel cells as alternatives to hydrogen fuel cells. This functional‐site‐decoupling mechanism is further extended to alkaline hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), enabling a PdMo/KB‐based anion‐exchange membrane water electrolyzer (AEMWE) to reach 1.0 and 2.0 A cm −2 at 1.59 and 1.70 V, respectively, and operate stably for 1000 h.

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Publication Details

Journal
Advanced Functional Materials
Published
2026-08-26
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1002/adfm.78037
Primary Topic
Electrocatalysts for Energy Conversion
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

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article

Mo‐Single‐Atom‐Enabled Functional‐Site‐Decoupled PdMo Catalysts for High‐Power Borane Fuel Cells and Alkaline Water Electrolysis

Wen Guo, Youyong Li, Dian Song, Cheng Liu et al.
Advanced Functional Materials
Electrocatalysts for Energy Conversion
article

Mo‐Single‐Atom‐Enabled Functional‐Site‐Decoupled PdMo Catalysts for High‐Power Borane Fuel Cells and Alkaline Water Electrolysis

Wen Guo, Youyong Li, Dian Song, Cheng Liu, Zhenglong Fan, Siqi Yang, Rui Wang, Ruijie Wang, Bo Zhang, Yexuan Zhang, Weihang Li, Zhengyang Luo, Changqing Jin, Kai Sun, Yilin Zhou
article en

Abstract

ABSTRACT Dimethylamine borane (DMAB) is a promising solid fuel for borane fuel cells due to its high hydrogen content and safety. However, the development is hindered by electrochemically sluggish DMAB oxidation reaction (DMABOR), since strongly adsorbed hydrogen‐containing reaction intermediates (*H) poison active sites. Herein, a Mo‐single‐atom‐enabled functional‐site‐decoupled PdMo catalyst is developed by combining functional‐site decoupling with atomic‐level oxophilic engineering. Spectroscopy and theoretical studies reveal that the catalyst comprises PdMo alloy particles (APs) and Mo single atoms (SAs), wherein alloyed Mo modulates electronic structure of Pd to weaken *H binding, and Mo SAs act as *OH‐affinitive Lewis‐acid sites that stabilize interfacial *OH, which is proposed to assist the oxidative removal of Pd‐bound *H. Notably, PdMo/KB was applied as the anode in direct DMAB fuel cells (D‐DMABFCs) for the first time, enabling an outstanding peak power density of 1195 mW cm −2 and stable operation for over 160 h, highlighting the potential of borane fuel cells as alternatives to hydrogen fuel cells. This functional‐site‐decoupling mechanism is further extended to alkaline hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), enabling a PdMo/KB‐based anion‐exchange membrane water electrolyzer (AEMWE) to reach 1.0 and 2.0 A cm −2 at 1.59 and 1.70 V, respectively, and operate stably for 1000 h.

Advanced Functional Materials
Wuhan University of Technology (CN), Fudan University (CN), Soochow University (CN)
National Natural Science Foundation of China, Science and Technology Commission of Shanghai Municipality
Clean water and sanitation
Openalex Percentile: Top 27%
Electrocatalysts for Energy Conversion
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