Journal
ENERGY & ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE
Volume 14, Issue 5, Pages 3194-3202Publisher
ROYAL SOC CHEMISTRY
DOI: 10.1039/d0ee04028b
Keywords
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Funding
- Ministry of Science and Technology of China [2017YFA0208200, 2016YFA0204100]
- National Natural Science Foundation of China [21571135, 21905188, 21771156]
- Young Thousand Talented Program
- Jiangsu Province Natural Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars [BK20170003]
- China Postdoctoral Science Foundation [2019M651937]
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Energy Materials for Electric Power [2018B030322001]
- project of the scientific and technologic infrastructure of Suzhou [SZS201708, SZS201905]
- Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions (PAPD)
- Soochow University
- Max Planck-POSTECH-Hsinchu Center for Complex Phase Materials
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The study develops a versatile electrocatalyst with remarkable performance for pH-universal overall water splitting, by introducing diluted metal nanoclusters. The optimized catalyst delivers record activity in a wide pH range, outperforming the Pt/C-Ir/C integrated couple and demonstrating enhanced stability after long-term tests. The diluted metal nanocluster-enhanced strategy offers a general pathway for the rational design of catalysts with unprecedented performance for electrocatalysis and beyond.
Developing a versatile electrocatalyst with remarkable performance viable for pH-universal overall water splitting is increasingly important for the industrial production of renewable energy conversion. Herein, our theoretical calculations predicate that the limitations in the mean-field behavior from the traditional catalyst designing strategy can be largely overcome by introducing diluted metal nanoclusters, which can give an optimal thermodynamic effect for enhancing electron-transfer capability, and in turn promote the activation of initial water-dissociation for both the hydrogen evolution reaction and oxygen evolution reaction. As a proof of concept, a unique catalyst, namely diluted nickel nanocluster-decorated ruthenium nanowires, was explored as a high-performance electrocatalyst for overall water splitting. The optimized catalyst delivered record activity for overall water splitting in a wide pH range from 0 to 14 with all the potentials lower than 1.454 V to achieve the current density of 10 mA cm(-2), largely outperforming the Pt/C-Ir/C integrated couple. It also readily reaches a high current density, of up to 100 mA cm(-2), with a low voltage of only 1.55 V applied. It is further demonstrated that the diluted nickel nanoclusters can strongly anchor on the ruthenium nanowires, contributing to the enhanced stability after the long-term tests. The diluted metal nanocluster-enhanced strategy highlights a general pathway for the rational design of catalysts with unprecedented performance for electrocatalysis and beyond.
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