Seamless separation of OH and H on a Ni-O catalyst toward exceptional alkaline hydrogen evolution

• Published in: Journal of materials chemistry. A, Materials for energy and sustainability Materials for energy and sustainability, 2022-01, Vol.1 (3), p.1278-1283
• Main Authors: Li, Jiangtian, Chu, Deryn, Baker, David R, Jiang, Rongzhong
• Format: Article
• ISSN: 2050-7488; 2050-7496
• DOI: 10.1039/d1ta07303f

Seamless separation of intermediates (OH ad and H ad ) to different active sites at the atomic scale is realized on a Ni-O catalyst that is functionalized with low-coordinated oxygen and abundant vacancies. During alkaline hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), the former enables active states for H ad adsorption/desorption; meanwhile, nearby Ni δ + vacancies allow an optimal interaction with OH ad . Consequently, such a synergistic action significantly expedites water dissociation and HER kinetics on the Ni-O catalyst with exceptional activity approaching that of the benchmark platinum electrocatalyst. This work presents a significant advance and offers new insights in designing non-precious metal oxides toward alkaline HER. Seamless separation of intermediates (OH ad and H ad ) at the atomic scale is realized for exceptional alkaline HER activity on a Ni-O catalyst that is functionalized with low-coordinated oxygen and abundant vacancies.