Laser-assisted high-performance PtRu alloy for pH-universal hydrogen evolution

Beibei Pang; Xiaokang Liu; Tianyang Liu; Tao Chen; Xinyi Shen; Wei Zhang; Sicong Wang; Tong Liu; Dong Liu; Tao Ding; Zhaoliang Liao; Yafei Li; Changhao Liang; Tao Yao

doi:10.1039/D1EE02518J

Laser-assisted high-performance PtRu alloy for pH-universal hydrogen evolution†

Beibei Pang,^a Xiaokang Liu,^a Tianyang Liu,^b Tao Chen,

^ac Xinyi Shen,^a Wei Zhang,^a Sicong Wang,^a Tong Liu,^a Dong Liu,^a Tao Ding,

^a Zhaoliang Liao,^a Yafei Li,*^b Changhao Liang*^d and Tao Yao

*^a

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* Corresponding authors

^a National Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230029, P. R. China
E-mail: yaot@ustc.edu.cn

^b Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Centre of Biomedical Functional Materials, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of New Power Batteries, School of Chemistry and Materials Science, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing 210023, China
E-mail: liyafei@njnu.edu.cn

^c School of National Defense Science and Technology, Southwest University of Science and Technology, Mianyang, China

^d Key Laboratory of Materials Physics and Anhui Key Laboratory of Nanomaterials and Nanotechnology, Institute of Solid State Physics, Hefei Institutes of Physical Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei 230031, China
E-mail: chliang@issp.ac.cn

Abstract

Elucidating the interaction between different atomic species of bimetallic nanoparticles under reaction conditions is the key to the design of efficient catalysts. Here, we report a laser-assisted strategy towards PtRu alloys, where isolated Pt sites are anchored on the Ru host, and track the variation of the active site under electrocatalytic conditions. Operando X-ray absorption spectroscopy identified the local environment variations around Pt single atoms and revealed the increased PtRu alloying degree during the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Theoretical simulations confirmed that the increase of alloying extent modulates the d-band center of Ru for enhancing the activity. Surface-restructured PtRu alloy exhibited outstanding HER activity and stability under all pH values, achieving an unexpected low overpotential of only 15, 17, and 28 mV at 10 mA cm⁻² in 1 M KOH, 1 M PBS, and 0.5 M H₂SO₄, respectively. This demonstrates the feasibility of surface engineering for designing advanced bimetallic catalysts with atomic-scale platinum decoration.

Energy & Environmental Science

Laser-assisted high-performance PtRu alloy for pH-universal hydrogen evolution†

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