Issue 8, 2023

Dual roles of sub-nanometer NiO in alkaline hydrogen evolution reaction: breaking the Volmer limitation and optimizing d-orbital electronic configuration

Abstract

Pt-based nanoclusters toward the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) remain the most promising electrocatalysts. However, the sluggish alkaline Volmer-step kinetics and the high-cost have hampered progress in developing high-performance HER catalysts. Herein, we propose to construct sub-nanometer NiO to tune the d-orbital electronic structure of nanocluster-level Pt for breaking the Volmer-step limitation and reducing the Pt-loading. Theoretical simulations firstly suggest that electron transfer from NiO to Pt nanoclusters could downshift the Ed-band of Pt and result in the well-optimized adsorption/desorption strength of the hydrogen intermediate (H*), therefore accelerating the hydrogen generation rate. NiO and Pt nanoclusters confined into the inherent pores of N-doped carbon derived from ZIF-8 (Pt/NiO/NPC) were designed to realize the structure of computational prediction and boost the alkaline hydrogen evolution. The optimal 1.5%Pt/NiO/NPC exhibited an excellent HER performance and stability with a low Tafel slope (only 22.5 mv dec−1) and an overpotential of 25.2 mV at 10 mA cm−2. Importantly, the 1.5%Pt/NiO/NPC possesses a mass activity of 17.37 A mg−1 at the overpotential of 20 mV, over 54 times higher than the benchmark 20 wt% Pt/C. Furthermore, DFT calculations illustrate that the Volmer-step could be accelerated owing to the high OH attraction of NiO nanoclusters, leading to the Pt nanoclusters exhibiting a balance of H* adsorption and desorption (ΔGH* = −0.082 eV). Our findings provide new insights into breaking the water dissociation limit of Pt-based catalysts by coupling with a metal oxide.

Graphical abstract: Dual roles of sub-nanometer NiO in alkaline hydrogen evolution reaction: breaking the Volmer limitation and optimizing d-orbital electronic configuration

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Communication
Submitted
18 Mar 2023
Accepted
28 Apr 2023
First published
28 Apr 2023

Mater. Horiz., 2023,10, 2913-2920

Dual roles of sub-nanometer NiO in alkaline hydrogen evolution reaction: breaking the Volmer limitation and optimizing d-orbital electronic configuration

F. Guo, Z. Zhang, R. Chen, Y. Tan, W. Wu, Z. Wang, T. Zeng, W. Zhu, C. Lin and N. Cheng, Mater. Horiz., 2023, 10, 2913 DOI: 10.1039/D3MH00416C

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