Journal of Energy Chemistry ›› 2023, Vol. 86 ›› Issue (11): 510-517.DOI: 10.1016/j.jechem.2023.07.035

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Epitaxial growth triggered core-shell Pd@RuP nanorods for high-efficiency electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution

Jiaqian Dinga, Xian Jiangb,*, Caikang Wangb, Zhuoya Zhua, Chang Xua, Yi Zhoua, Xuan Wanga, Qicheng Liua, Zhenyuan Liuc, Yawen Tanga, Jun Lina,*, Gengtao Fua,*   

  1. aJiangsu Key Laboratory of New Power Batteries, Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center of Biomedical Functional Materials, School of Chemistry and Materials Science, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing 210023, Jiangsu, China;
    bSchool of New Energy, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Jiangyin 214443, Jiangsu, China;
    cSchool of Materials Science and Engineering, Jiangsu University of Science and Technology, Zhenjiang 212100, Jiangsu, China
  • Received:2023-05-21 Revised:2023-07-18 Accepted:2023-07-23 Online:2023-11-15 Published:2023-11-07
  • Contact: *E-mail addresses: xianjiang@njust.edu.cn (X. Jiang), linjun@njnu.edu.cn (J. Lin), gengtaofu@njnu.edu.cn (G. Fu).

Abstract: Ru with Pt-like hydrogen bond strength, knockdown cost (∼1/3 of Pt), and eximious stability is a competitive replacement for Pt-based catalysts towards the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) in water splitting. The design of Ru-based catalysts via interface construction, crystal phase control, and specific light element doping to realize the impressive promotion of limited activity and stability remains challenging. Herein, we report the fabrication of Pd@RuP core-shell nanorods (NRs) via an epitaxial growth method, where ultrathin RuP shells extend the face-centered cubic (fcc) crystal structure and (111) plane of the Pd NRs core. Density functional theory results confirm that the core-shell interface engineering and P doping synergistically accelerate electron transfer and moderate the d-band center to generate a suitable affinity for H*, thus optimizing HER kinetics. Compared with Pd@Ru NRs and Pt/C, the Pd@RuP NRs exhibit preferable electrocatalytic stability and superior activity with a low overpotential of 18 mV at 10 mA cm-2 in the alkaline HER process. Furthermore, the integrated Pd@RuP//RuO2-based electrolyzer also displays a low operation potential of 1.42 V to acquire 10 mA cm-2, demonstrating great potential for practical water electrolysis. Our work presents an efficient avenue to design Ru-based electrocatalysts via epitaxial growth for extraordinary HER performance.

Key words: Pd@RuP, Epitaxial growth, Interface engineering, Hydrogen evolution, Electrocatalyst