MXene supported PtCo bimetallic catalyst for hydrogen evolution in acidic conditions

Abstract

Using the electrochemical technology to split water molecules to produce hydrogen is the key to obtain green hydrogen for solving the energy crisis. The large-scale application of hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) in water dissociation requires a highly active catalyst. In this paper, the highly dispersed PtCo bimetallic nanoparticles loading on MXene (PtCo/MXene) were prepared by using a step-to-step reduction strategy. The mentioned PtCo/MXene catalyst exhibits a high current density of −100 mA/cm² in an acidic medium with just a 152 mV overpotential. In addition, the PtCo/MXene catalyst also displays a superior stability. Computational analysis and experimental testing demonstrate that the electronic interaction between Pt and Co can effectively modify the electronic structure of the active site, thereby enhancing the inherent catalytic performance of the material. More importantly, MXene two-dimensional nanosheets can expose more active sites because of their large specific surface area. Furthermore, MXene substrate with excellent electrical conductivity and harmonious interfaces between PtCo and MXene enhance charge transfer efficiency and lower the reaction activation energy.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

MXene / PtCo bimetallic / hydrogen evolution reaction (HER)

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Urban Carbon Neutral Science Innovation Foundation of Beijing University of Technology (Nos. 048000514122664, 048000514122656), the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (2022M710273), Young Elite Scientists Sponsorship Program by BAST (BYESS2023341) and the Beijing Postdoctoral Research Foundation (2022-ZZ-043). We gratefully acknowledge HZWTECH for providing computation facilities.

Electronic Supplementary Material

Supplementary material is available in the online version of this article at https://doi.org/10.1007/s11708-024-0925-9 and is accessible for authorized users.

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

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