Work

Tailoring NiPt 1 single-atom alloy nanoclusters by embedded Ni 3 ZnC 0.7 to accelerate alkaline hydrogen evolution

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: Electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) faces challenges in alkaline due to competitive adsorption of *OH and *H at the same active site, which hinders H2 generation. Single-atom alloys (SAAs), particularly Ni-based systems like NiPt1 SAAs, show considerable performance through dual-site mechanisms, where Ni adsorbs *OH while Pt facilitates H2 desorption. However, *OH blockage on Ni hinders *OH desorption and triggers slow water dissociation kinetics. Herein, supported NiPt1 alloy nanoclusters embedded with Ni3ZnC0.7 (Ni3ZnC0.7@NiPt1) are synthesized through pyrolysis of zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 (ZIF-8)@Ni coordination compound (ZIF-8@NCC) coupled with Pt galvanic replacement reactions. Experiments and calculations reveal that the embedded Ni3ZnC0.7 modulates electronic structure of Ni, promoting *OH desorption and enhancing water dissociation. Thus, supported Ni3ZnC0.7@NiPt1 achieves exceptional low overpotential (η10 = 23 mV) and high mass activity (MA50 = 1.67 mA·μgPt−1) in alkaline, which remarkably surpass Ni@NiPt1 (η10 = 127 mV and MA50 = 0.101 mA·μgPt−1). The corresponding alkaline anion-exchange membrane water electrolyzer (AEMWE) requires only 1.91 V at 1 A·cm−2, demonstrating industrial viability. This work provides new insights into addressing *OH blockage on SAAs catalysts in alkaline HER.

Source: Nano Research

DOI: 10.26599/nr.2025.94907913