Activity trends of Pd clusters supported on C₂N for oxygen evolution and reduction reactions

Developing highly efficient electrocatalysts for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and reduction reaction (ORR) is crucial for future renewable energy technology. Here, we use first-principles calculations combined with genetic algorithm to determine the structures of various Pd clusters supported on experimentally available C₂N monolayer and evaluate the OER and ORR performance. Our findings show that the activity of the supported Pd clusters is closely linked to the local geometrical and electronic structure of the active site. Furthermore, we establish the activity trends of the clusters based on the adsorption free energies of intermediates. In particular, C₂N supported Pd₇ and Pd₈ clusters exhibit outstanding OER activity with low overpotentials. We identify a volcano relation for the OER on the clusters, suggesting that the high activity of the cluster is related to the moderate adsorption strength of intermediates. Mechanistic analysis indicates that the second water formation is the potential-determining step for ORR on the clusters due to the strong adsorption of ^*OH. Additionally, we identify a linear scaling relationship between the ORR overpotentials and adsorption free energies of ^*OH, demonstrating that reducing the adsorption strength of reaction intermediates on Pd clusters can improve the activity. This work unravels the activity trends of cluster catalysts and provides strategies for the rational design of highly efficient single-cluster catalysts for OER and ORR.