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Rational control of the composition and the nanostructure of catalysts can significantly affect their catalytic efficiency. Here, we demonstrated a one-pot, room temperature and aqueous synthesis of submicrometer-sized PdCu networks as superior catalysts for ethanol oxidation reaction (EOR) in alkaline medium. When correlating the activity of PdCu network catalysts for EOR with Cu content, the PdCu network catalysts show a composition-dependent ‘volcano’ behavior. The ‘volcano’ behavior is rationalized with the Sabatier principle where the reaction rate passes through a maximum when metals adsorb reaction intermediates moderately. The composition-optimized Pd73Cu27 network was intensively compared with a commercial Pd/C catalyst and it showed a superior electrocatalytic performance with a 178% enhancement in Pd-based mass activity, 160% improvement in long-term stability and better tolerance of CO-like species poisoning.
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