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Updated: Aug 28, 2025
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A Simple, Low-cost, and Robust System to Measure the Volume of Hydrogen Evolved by Chemical Reactions with Aqueous Solutions
Published on: August 17, 2016
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Asymmetric Exchange Interaction Induces Highly Efficient Alkaline Hydrogen Evolution in RhFe Bimetallene
Kun Yan1, Tingting Wei1, Hengdong Ren1
1National Laboratory of Solid States Microstructures and Key Laboratory of Modern Acoustics, MOE, Institute of Acoustics, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210093, P. R. China.
Small (Weinheim an Der Bergstrasse, Germany)
|September 18, 2022
Summary
A novel RhFe bimetallene catalyst efficiently drives the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) through electronic state reconstruction. This advanced catalyst demonstrates exceptional performance in alkaline solutions, offering a new strategy for designing double metal composite catalysts.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Electrochemistry
- Catalysis
Background:
- Efficient hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) catalysts are crucial for clean energy technologies.
- Developing advanced bimetallic composite materials can enhance catalytic activity.
- Understanding electronic structure modifications is key to optimizing catalyst performance.
Purpose of the Study:
- To construct and investigate an RhFe bimetallene for efficient HER.
- To elucidate the mechanism of enhanced HER activity driven by electronic state reconstruction.
- To provide a new strategy for designing double metal composite HER catalysts.
Main Methods:
- Synthesis of RhFe bimetallene with Fe atoms doped into a Rh host.
- Electrochemical characterization including overpotential and Tafel slope measurements in 1 M KOH.
- Theoretical analysis of electronic structure and orbital interactions (dxy and dz 2).
Main Results:
- The designed RhFe bimetallene (0.77 nm thickness, 5 atomic layers) exhibits excellent HER performance.
- Achieved low overpotentials of 24.4 mV at 10 mA cm-2 and 34.6 mV at 100 mA cm-2.
- An ultra-low Tafel slope of 8.9 mV dec-1 indicates an ultrafast kinetic process.
Conclusions:
- Asymmetric exchange interaction between neighboring Fe atoms drives electron hopping and reconstructs electronic states, pushing the d band center closer to the Fermi level.
- The optimized electronic structure of the RhFe bimetallene significantly enhances HER efficiency.
- This work presents a viable strategy for designing high-performance HER catalysts using double metal composites.
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