Sandwich-structured Au@polyallylamine@Pd nanostructures: tuning the electronic properties of the Pd shell for electrocatalysis

Abstract

We report herein the synthesis of core–shell sandwich Au@polyallylamine@Pd nanostructures, in which the electronic structure of the Pd shell can be strongly tuned by the medial polyallylamine layers. The designed Au@polyallylamine@Pd nanostructures exhibit significantly improved electrocatalytic activity and stability for the formic acid oxidation reaction through the preferential dehydrogenation pathway.