Low-content Ru–Pt supported on oxygen vacancy enriched black TiO2 with strong electronic interactions as efficient hydrogen generation electrocatalysts

Abstract

Vacancy-engineered titanium dioxide (TiO₂) loaded with low content noble metals is an important approach to achieve satisfactory hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) performance, but synthetic avenues are generally energy-intensive and tedious. Herein, a simple and ultrafast (60 s) microwave quasi-solid strategy is developed to prepare oxygen vacancy-enriched TiO₂ doped with phosphorus to support low-loading Ru and Pt (Ru–Pt/P–TiO_2−x) for the HER. The generated oxygen vacancies and introduced phosphorus favor a decrease in electrical resistance and enhance the metal–support interactions. Then, the as-developed Ru–Pt/P–TiO_2−x exhibits satisfactory catalytic performance with an overpotential of 14 mV at 10 mA cm⁻² and a small Tafel slope of 28 mV dec⁻¹. In addition, the mass activity of Ru–Pt/P–TiO_2−x is ten times or even hundred times higher than those of Ru/C and Pt/C. This study offers a novel and general approach to synthesize Ti-based compounds in renewable energy-related fields.