Hollow Nanowire Constructed by NiCo Doped RuO₂ Nanoparticles for Robust Hydrogen Evolution at High-Current-Density

Large-current-density electrocatalytic water splitting is essential for industrial hydrogen production, but it is currently hindered by lacking active and robust hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) catalysts. Herein, a novel electrode of hollow nanowire arrays constructed by NiCo modified RuO₂ nanoparticles on Ni foam (NiCo@RuO₂ HNAs/NF) for high-performance HER was reported. Such efficient electrode was fabricated by ion exchange with NF-supported Ni modified cobalt carbonate hydroxide nanowire arrays template (Ni@CoCH NAs/NF). The formed NiCo@RuO₂ HNAs/NF only needed overpotentials of 148.5 and 236.1 mV to deliver 500 and 1000 mA cm^-2 , respectively, along with excellent stability at the high-current-density for 300 h. Such remarkable HER performance was mainly attributed to the hollow structure with high surface area, hydrophilic feature, and NiCo@RuO₂ with optimized hydrogen evolution kinetics. After coupling with anodic Ni@CoCH NAs/NF, our electrolyzer outperformed Pt/C-IrO₂ and most other Ru-based electrolyzers. This work provides a promising Pt alternative catalyst for profitable H₂ production.