High throughput discovery of ternary Cu–Fe–Ru alloy catalysts for photo-driven hydrogen production

Abstract

Light driven hydrogen production from the water splitting reaction has the ability to reduce dependence on fossil fuels in a green energy future. Here, we highlight the discovery of Cu_xRu_yFe_1−x–y nanoparticle catalysts for photo-driven hydrogen production. Through a high throughput experimental setup, robust data management pipelines and intentional experimental design, this study uncovered three highly active bimetallic systems for photo-driven hydrogen and identified a new trimetallic catalyst for this system. In most cases, the multimetallic catalysts outperformed the monometallics. This study highlights the expansive catalytic screening capabilities of this system in contrast to traditional catalytic selection processes through the discovery of distributions of particle compositions in binary and ternary mixtures of metals with high activity for hydrogen evolution.