Open AccessRuRh Bimetallene Nanoring as High‐efficiency pH‐Universal Catalyst for Hydrogen Evolution Reaction
Author(s) -
Mu Xueqin,
Gu Jiani,
Feng Feiyan,
Xiao Ziyin,
Chen Changyun,
Liu Suli,
Mu Shichun
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.202002341
Subject(s) - nanoring , catalysis , hydrogen , adsorption , chemical engineering , electrocatalyst , density functional theory , chemical physics , chemistry , materials science , nanotechnology , computational chemistry , electrode , electrochemistry , organic chemistry , engineering
Electrocatalysis of the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is a vital and demanding, yet challenging, task to produce clean energy applications. Here, the RuRh 2 bimetallene nanoring with rich structural defects is designed and successfully synthesized by a mixed‐solvent strategy, displaying ascendant HER performance with high mass activity at −0.05 and −0.07 V, separately higher than that of the commercial Pt catalyst. Also, it maintains steady hydrogen bubble evolution even after 30 000 potential cycles in acid media. Furthermore, the RuRh 2 bimetallene nanoring shows an outstanding activity in both alkaline and neutral media, outperforming that of Pt catalysts and other reported HER catalysts. A combination of atomic‐scale structure observation and density functional theory calculations demonstrates that both the grain boundaries and symmetry breaking of RuRh 2 bimetallene cannot only weaken the adsorption strength of atomic hydrogen, but also facilitate the transfer of electrons and the adsorption of reactants, further boosting the HER electrocatalytic performance in all pH values.