TY  - JOUR
AU  - Chang, Yukun
AU  - Cheng, Xing
AU  - Ran, Guangshun
AU  - Song, Hui
AU  - Zhou, Wenyuan
AU  - Wang, Jinshu
AU  - Li, Hongyi
PY  - 2026
TI  - Microstrain-induced modulation of electronic structure and adsorption energy for efficient hydrogen evolution reaction
JO  - Nano Research
SN  - 1998-0124
SP  - 94907938
VL  - 19
IS  - 2
AB  - Inducing microstrain at atomic level within multicomponent Pt-based electrocatalysts, as well as the role of this microstrain in modulating the electronic structure and multi-site surface adsorption energies during hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), still remains unexplored. Herein, the localized microstrain had been designed in a novel kind of ultrafine PtMnZn ternary alloy, which were planted into the highly ordered TiO2 nanotube array to form the self-supported electrode with highly catalytic activity for splitting water both in acid and alkaline conditions. The obtained self-supported electrode exhibits a remarkable mass activity of 17.73 A·mgPt−1 in acid and 6.78 A·mgPt−1 in alkaline conditions, outperforming commercial Pt/C 44.32 and 61.64 times, respectively. In addition, the obtained self-electrodes possess superior long-term durability. Theoretical investigations reveal that the modulated electronic structure can shift the d-band center of multi metallic sites, resulting in lower |ΔG*H| of H adsorption on PtMnZn surface, as well as lower energy barrier to dissociate the H2O affording *H intermediates providing an acid microenvoirnment, which facilitates the H2 formation in alkaline conditions. This work induces distinct local microstrain in self-supported electrode, realizing optimized adsorption and enhancing electrochemical performances, which offers a promising strategy for designing novel high-performance self-supported electrode for hydrogen production.
UR  - https://doi.org/10.26599/NR.2025.94907938
DO  - 10.26599/NR.2025.94907938