Porous Hollow Cu Nanocubes with Co-exposed (100)/(110) Facets for Alkaline Hydrogen Evolution

Feifei Zhang; Long Shang; Jing Mao; Pengfei Yin; Rui Zhang; Yahui Cheng; Hui Liu; Xiwen Du

doi:10.1007/s12209-026-00469-1

Transactions of Tianjin University ›› :1 -9. DOI: 10.1007/s12209-026-00469-1

Research Article

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Porous Hollow Cu Nanocubes with Co-exposed (100)/(110) Facets for Alkaline Hydrogen Evolution

Feifei Zhang ¹^,²
, Long Shang ²
, Jing Mao ²
, Pengfei Yin ²^,³
, Rui Zhang ²^,³
, Yahui Cheng ¹
, Hui Liu ²^,³^,⁴^,^a
, Xiwen Du ²^,³

Author information +

¹Department of Electronic Science and Engineering, Nankai University, 300350, Tianjin, China

²School of Materials Science and Engineering, Institute of New Energy Materials, Tianjin University, 300072, Tianjin, China

³, State Key Laboratory of Precious Metal Functional Materials, 300350, Tianjin, China

⁴School of New Energy, Yulin University, 719000, Yulin, China

^a hui_liu@tju.edu.cn

Feifei Zhang

Feifei Zhang is a Ph.D. candidate at Nankai University, China. Her research focuses on the synthesis of nanomaterials under non-equilibrium conditions and the formation mechanisms of metal nanostructures. She is particularly interested in understanding the structure–property relationships of nanomaterials and their applications in electrocatalysis and energy conversion.

Hui Liu

Hui Liu Professor have been focusing on the topic of laser controllable preparation of new nanomaterials and structures and studying the interacting mechanism of nanosecond laser and materials in liquid phase since 2013. A series of nanomaterials and structures with excellent properties have been constructed, the corresponding results partially published in Nature Catalysis, Joule, PNAS, Nature Communications, Advanced Materials, Angewandte Chemie International Edition, etc. Based on these achievements, Professor Liu have presided over 5 national projects, including 1 National Outstanding Youth Science Fund. Professor Liu have won the first prize of Natural Science in Tianjin as the main completion person. Professor Liu is currently a member of the Academic Committee of the Functional Materials Branch of the Chinese Society of Metals and young editorial board member of several SCI journals.

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Abstract

Designing high-performance catalysts from earth-abundant elements remains a critical challenge in the alkaline hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Copper (Cu) is attractive for its low cost and environmental compatibility; however, it intrinsically suffers from sluggish Volmer kinetics and weak hydrogen binding. Although specific low-index Cu facets offer well-defined atomic arrangements and facet-specific reactivity, their synthesis and stabilization in electrocatalysts remain challenging. Herein, we report a one-step electrochemical reduction strategy that converts hollow Cu₂O nanocubes (NCs) into porous hollow Cu NCs exposing both Cu(100) and Cu(110) facets. This transformation is driven by electrochemically induced lattice reduction and surface atom rearrangement, which increase the density of low-coordination Cu sites and endow them with complementary reactivity, thereby alleviating kinetic limitations associated with water dissociation in the alkaline HER. Consequently, the porous hollow Cu NCs deliver an overpotential of 80 mV at a current density of 10 mA/cm², achieve a 33.7-fold increase in electrochemically active surface area compared with Cu foam, and exhibit excellent durability in 1 mol/L KOH. Moreover, combined in situ Raman and hydroxide adsorption analyses offer direct evidence linking the co-exposed facets to accelerated initial HER kinetics, particularly water dissociation. This study establishes a one-step electrochemical strategy for the synthesis of low-index active Cu facets and offers a broadly applicable design principle for cost-effective HER catalysts.

Keywords

Copper nanocubes / Porous hollow structures / Electrochemical reduction / Facet engineering

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Feifei Zhang, Long Shang, Jing Mao, Pengfei Yin, Rui Zhang, Yahui Cheng, Hui Liu, Xiwen Du. Porous Hollow Cu Nanocubes with Co-exposed (100)/(110) Facets for Alkaline Hydrogen Evolution. Transactions of Tianjin University 1-9 DOI:10.1007/s12209-026-00469-1

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