Alkaline hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is a cornerstone for efficient green hydrogen production via anion exchange membrane water electrolysis (AEMWE), yet suffering from sluggish water dissociation kinetics. Ruthenium (Ru)-based catalysts exhibit Pt-like activity at a fraction of the cost, but their performance is hampered by excessive hydroxide accumulation on Ru sites, a consequence of their overly strong oxygen affinity and suboptimal d-band center. Herein, we reported a class of Mo/V-dual-tailored Ru metallic glass nanosheets (Mo/V-Ru NSs) to enable spatial segregation of water dissociation sites (on Mo/V) from hydrogen evolution sites (on Ru), achieving the acceleration of alkaline HER electrocatalysis. The optimized Mo/V-Ru NSs deliver outstanding alkaline HER performance, with overpotentials of 36 and 86 mV at 10 and 100 mA·cm−2, respectively, outperforming pure Ru counterparts and commercial Pt/C. Remarkably, the Mo/V-Ru NSs-based AEMWE can achieve a high current density of 100 mA·cm−2 at a low cell voltage of 1.68 V and exhibit excellent durability for over 120 h. In-situ Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy elucidates the role of Mo and V in water adsorption and O–H bond cleavage, synergistically lowering the water dissociation barrier. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations and ab initio molecular dynamics (AIMD) simulations confirm enhanced water adsorption on Mo/V sites and preferential Ru-H coordination, supporting the site-segregation mechanism.
- Article type
- Year
- Co-author
Open Access
Research Article
Issue
The hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) of molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) is limited in alkaline and acid solution because the active sites are on the finite edge with extended basal plane remaining inert. Herein, we activated the interfacial S sites by coupling with Ru nanoparticles on the inert basal plane of MoS2 nanosheets. The density functional theory (DFT) calculation and experimental results show that the interfacial S electronic structure was modulated. And the results of ∆GH* demonstrate that the adsorption of H on the MoS2 was also optimized. With the advantage of interfacial S sites activation, the Ru-MoS2 needs only overpotential of 110 and 98 mV to achieve 10 mA·cm–2 in both 0.5 M H2SO4 and 1 M KOH solution, respectively. This strategy paves a new way for activating the basal plane of other transition metal sulfide electrocatalysts for improving the HER performance.
京公网安备11010802044758号