Ternary metal NiRuPt partition synergistic relay promotes pH-universal hydrogen evolution

Hydrogen production by electrolysis of water is a key technology to achieve green hydrogen energy economy, but it relies on advanced catalyst materials with high efficiency, stability, and wide pH adaptability. In this study, Ni, Ru, and Pt ternary metals were embedded into nitrogen-doped hollow carbon spheres (NHCSs) by hydrothermal tandem heat treatment to form ternary supported metal nanoparticles with high dispersion and ultra-small particle size (~ 1.3 nm), which realized efficient hydrogen evolution from multi-scenario electrocatalytic water splitting. In the whole pH range, the performance of NiRuPt/NHCSs is better than that of commercial Pt/C catalyst, and the overpotentials under alkaline, neutral, and acidic conditions are as low as 15.5, 20.0, and 29.5 mV, respectively. Under industrial conditions, NiRuPt/NHCSs also have excellent hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) performance, achieving efficient electrolysis of seawater for hydrogen production, and achieving Ampere-level hydrogen production at low voltage (~ 1.76 V) on integrated membrane electrode assemblies. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations show that in the NiRuPt ternary metal, the Pt site is conducive to promoting the desorption of *H to form H₂, the Ru site is conducive to promoting the capture of H₂O, and the Ni site is conducive to promoting the dissociation of H₂O. Therefore, the formed NiRuPt ternary metal synergistically promotes multi-scenario efficient electrolysis of water to produce hydrogen. This study provides a new idea for the design of multi-component metal/carbon-based composite catalysts, and promotes the development of non-noble metal/noble metal composite catalysts in hydrogen production by electrolysis of water.