Issue 18, 2025

Synergistic upcycling of Pt/Pd and graphite from city mines for highly efficient seawater hydrogen evolution catalysis

Abstract

Seawater electrolysis presents a promising approach for the sustainable production of green hydrogen. However, developing low-cost and highly stable electrocatalysts remains a critical challenge. Herein, we developed a waste materialization strategy to directly construct a novel Pt/Pd@SOG electrocatalyst from a recycled automobile catalyst and graphite anode. The as-fabricated catalyst exhibited superior performance in alkaline seawater electrolysis, delivering a low overpotential of 195 mV and 333 mV at current densities of 10 mA cm−2 and 100 mA cm−2 for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), respectively, outperforming commercial Pt/C (228 mV and 372 mV). A state-of-the-art turnover frequency (TOF) of 43.745 s−1 was achieved. Additionally, the catalyst demonstrated exceptional stability at a current density of 100 mA cm−2 for over 192 hours. A comprehensive characterization and mechanistic study reveals that the graphene-based material provides a fast electron transport pathway and guarantees excellent electron conductivity to the catalytic active center, while the d–d orbital coupling between Pt and Pd within the as-synthesized Pt/Pd@SOG significantly lowers the energy barrier for electron transfer during catalytic reaction and stabilizes the adsorption of intermediates at the Pt sites, thus promoting the HER. This research demonstrates a rapid valorization pathway for synergistically materializing multiple city mine wastes for advanced seawater electrocatalysts, which synergistically addresses the critical element cycling challenge and paves the way for sustainable energy catalysis.

Graphical abstract: Synergistic upcycling of Pt/Pd and graphite from city mines for highly efficient seawater hydrogen evolution catalysis

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
03 Jan 2025
Accepted
22 Mar 2025
First published
24 Mar 2025

J. Mater. Chem. A, 2025,13, 13457-13468

Synergistic upcycling of Pt/Pd and graphite from city mines for highly efficient seawater hydrogen evolution catalysis

W. Cheng, S. Liu, Q. Jiang, S. Yang, Y. Shangguan, J. Hu, J. Liang, S. Jin, W. Zhong, X. Lou and H. Chen, J. Mater. Chem. A, 2025, 13, 13457 DOI: 10.1039/D5TA00055F

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