Open AccessPartial‐Single‐Atom, Partial‐Nanoparticle Composites Enhance Water Dissociation for Hydrogen Evolution
Author(s) -
Hu Chun,
Song Erhong,
Wang Maoyu,
Chen Wei,
Huang Fuqiang,
Feng Zhenxing,
Liu Jianjun,
Wang Jiacheng
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
advanced science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.388
H-Index - 100
ISSN - 2198-3844
DOI - 10.1002/advs.202001881
Subject(s) - overpotential , dissociation (chemistry) , water splitting , electrocatalyst , nanoparticle , catalysis , materials science , chemical engineering , ruthenium , hydrogen , inorganic chemistry , nanotechnology , chemistry , electrode , electrochemistry , biochemistry , organic chemistry , photocatalysis , engineering
Abstract The development of an efficient electrocatalyst toward the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is of significant importance in transforming renewable electricity to pure and clean hydrogen by water splitting. However, the construction of an active electrocatalyst with multiple sites that can promote the dissociation of water molecules still remains a great challenge. Herein, a partial‐single‐atom, partial‐nanoparticle composite consisting of nanosized ruthenium (Ru) nanoparticles (NPs) and individual Ru atoms as an energy‐efficient HER catalyst in alkaline medium is reported. The formation of this unique composite mainly results from the dispersion of Ru NPs to small‐size NPs and single atoms (SAs) on the Fe/N codoped carbon (Fe–N–C) substrate due to the thermodynamic stability. The optimal catalyst exhibits an outstanding HER activity with an ultralow overpotential (9 mV) at 10 mA cm −2 ( η 10 ), a high turnover frequency (8.9 H 2 s −1 at 50 mV overpotential), and nearly 100% Faraday efficiency, outperforming the state‐of‐the‐art commercial Pt/C and other reported HER electrocatalysts in alkaline condition. Both experimental and theoretical calculations reveal that the coexistence of Ru NPs and SAs can improve the hydride coupling and water dissociation kinetics, thus synergistically enhancing alkaline hydrogen evolution performance.