Efficient oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) catalysts are key for the development of high-performance fuel cells. Palladium (Pd) is a promising catalyst system for ORR given its potential to replace platinum (Pt); however, it usually exhibits lower activity than Pt. Here, we report a class of ordered Pd₃Pb tripods (TPs) with predominantly {110} facets and show that they achieve extremely high ORR performance in alkaline medium. In contrast to the knowledge that the excellent ORR activity of Pt catalyst is caused by its partially filled d orbital, our first-principle calculations suggest that the strong charge exchange between Pd-4d and Pb-(sp) orbitals on the Pd₃Pb TPs {110} facet results in a Pd-Pb local bonding unit with an orbital configuration similar to that of Pt. Consequently, Pd₃Pb TPs exhibit much higher ORR activities than commercial Pt/C and commercial Pd/C. Pd₃Pb TPs are endurable and sustain over 20,000 potential cycles with negligible structural and compositional changes.

高效氧还原反应（ORR）催化剂是开发高性能燃料电池的关键。钯（Pd）具有取代铂（Pt）的潜力，因此它是ORR的有前途的催化剂体系。然而，它通常表现出比铂更低的活性。在这里，我们报告了一类有序{110}晶面的有序Pd ₃ Pb三脚架（TP），并显示它们在碱性介质中具有极高的ORR性能。与此相反的Pt催化剂的优秀ORR活动是由它的部分填充造成的知识d轨道，我们的第一原理计算表明，钯4之间的强电荷交换d和PB-（SP在Pd）的轨道₃Pb TP {110}面会导致Pd-Pb局部键合单元具有与Pt相似的轨道构型。因此，Pd ₃ Pb TPs的ORR活性比市售Pt / C和市售Pd / C高得多。Pd ₃ Pb TPs可以持久并且可以维持超过20,000个潜在周期，并且结构和组成变化可忽略不计。