Cited by 405Electrocatalysts for Energy ConversionFuel Cells and Related MaterialsHydrogen Storage and Materials

Amorphous nickel hydroxide shell tailors local chemical environment on platinum surface for alkaline hydrogen evolution reaction

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Wan, Chengzhang, Zhang, Zisheng, Dong, Juncai, Xu, Mingjie, Pu, Heting, Baumann, Daniel, Lin, Zhaoyang, Wang, Sibo +7 more·2023·Nature Materials

Abstract

In analogy to natural enzymes, an elaborated design of catalytic systems with a specifically tailored local chemical environment could substantially improve reaction kinetics, effectively combat catalyst poisoning effect and boost catalyst lifetime under unfavourable reaction conditions. Here we report a unique design of 'Ni(OH)2-clothed Pt-tetrapods' with an amorphous Ni(OH)2 shell as a water dissociation catalyst and a proton conductive encapsulation layer to isolate the Pt core from bulk alkaline electrolyte while ensuring efficient proton supply to the active Pt sites. This design creates a favourable local chemical environment to result in acidic-like hydrogen evolution reaction kinetics with a lowest Tafel slope of 27 mV per decade and a record-high specific activity and mass activity in alkaline electrolyte. The proton conductive Ni(OH)2 shell can also effectively reject impurity ions and retard the Oswald ripening, endowing a high tolerance to solution impurities and exceptional long-term durability that is difficult to achieve in the naked Pt catalysts. The markedly improved hydrogen evolution reaction activity and durability in an alkaline medium promise an attractive catalyst material for alkaline water electrolysers and renewable chemical fuel generation.

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Crossref · 10.1038/s41563-023-01584-3

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  • The higher Tafel slopes of Pt/C and HEA/C are consistent with Volmer- or Heyrovsky-limited kinetics, while the reduced Tafel slope of the HEA|Pt aerogel suggests a shift toward a Tafel-step limited pathway.

    “The much higher Tafel slopes observed for Pt/C and HEA/C are consistent with the Volmer- or Heyrovsky-limited kinetics typically expected in alkaline electrolyte, while the markedly reduced Tafel slope of the HEA|Pt aerogel suggests a shift toward a distinct Tafel-step limited pathway.47”

    From High-Entropy Alloy Aerogels with High-Density Solid–Solid Heterointerfaces for Alkaline Hydrogen Evolution (2026) · cites this paper as [47]

    The Extended passage links higher alkaline Tafel slopes for Pt/C and naked Pt tet to Volmer- or Heyrovsky-limited kinetics, and a lower slope for Pt tet@Ni(OH)2 to a Tafel-step-limited mechanism. The source does not study HEA/C or the HEA|Pt aerogel, so it supports the mechanistic analogy but not those material-specific assignments. (LLM, conf=0.87)

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Research works printed but not linked: 8

  1. [7]7. Schalenbach, M. et al. Acidic or Alkaline? Towards a New Perspective on the Efficiency of Water Electrolysis. Journal of The Electrochemical Society 163, F3197- F3208, (2016).
  2. [8]8. Leng, Y. et al. Solid-State Water Electrolysis with an Alkaline Membrane. Journal of the American Chemical Society 134, 9054-9057, (2012).
  3. [11]11. Energy, U. S. D. o. Hydrogen and Fuel Cells Program: 2019 Annual Merit Review and Peer Evaluation Report. (2019).
  4. [19]19. Sun, B., Snaith, H. J., Dhoot, A. S., Westenhoff, S. & Greenham, N. C. Vertically segregated hybrid blends for photovoltaic devices with improved efficiency. Journal of Applied Physics 97, 014914, (2005).
  5. [22]22. Payne, B. P., Biesinger, M. C. & McIntyre, N. S. The study of polycrystalline nickel metal oxidation by water vapour. Journal of Electron Spectroscopy and Related Phenomena 175, 55-65, (2009).
  6. [35]35. Zheng, J., Yan, Y. & Xu, B. Correcting the Hydrogen Diffusion Limitation in Rotating Disk Electrode Measurements of Hydrogen Evolution Reaction Kinetics. Journal of The Electrochemical Society 162, F1470-F1481, (2015).
  7. [36]36. Rheinländer, P. J., Herranz, J., Durst, J. & Gasteiger, H. A. Kinetics of the Hydrogen Oxidation/Evolution Reaction on Polycrystalline Platinum in Alkaline Electrolyte Reaction Order with Respect to Hydrogen Pressure. Journal of The Electrochemical Society 161, F1448-F1457, (2014).
  8. [72]72. Ledezma-Yanez, I. et al. Interfacial water reorganization as a pH-dependent descriptor of the hydrogen evolution rate on platinum electrodes. Nature Energy 2, 17031 (2017).

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Authors
Wan, C., Zhang, Z., Dong, J., Xu, M., Pu, H., Baumann, D., Lin, Z., Wang, S., Huang, J., Shah, A. H., Pan, X., Hu, T., Alexandrova, A. N., Huang, Y., & Duan, X.
Affiliations
  • University of California, Los Angeles (US)
  • Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN)
  • University of California, Irvine (US)
  • California NanoSystems Institute (US)
Corresponding author
  • Alexandrova, Anastassia N.
  • Huang, Yu
  • Duan, Xiangfeng
Venue
Nature Materials
Published
2023-06-22
Volume
22
Issue
8
Pages
1022-1029
ISSN
  • 1476-1122 (ISSN-L)
  • 1476-4660
OpenAlex
W4381612401
Cited by
404
References
74
Citations by year
2026: 103 · 2025: 156 · 2024: 129 · 2023: 16
FWCI
19.31
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Nature Materials (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • eScholarship (California Digital Library) (submittedVersion)
  • OSTI OAI (U.S. Department of Energy Office of Scientific and Technical Information) (submittedVersion)
Funders
NSF | Directorate for Mathematical & Physical Sciences | Division of Chemistry (1800580)
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Energy › Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment › Electrocatalysts for Energy Conversion
  • Physical Sciences › Engineering › Electrical and Electronic Engineering › Fuel Cells and Related Materials
  • Physical Sciences › Materials Science › Materials Chemistry › Hydrogen Storage and Materials
Keywords
platinum catalysts, alkaline hydrogen evolution reaction, local chemical environment, proton conduction, water dissociation, catalyst stability, Ostwald ripening, alkaline water electrolysis, Tafel slope, mass activity

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