Merging Platinum Single Atoms to Achieve Ultrahigh Mass Activity and Low Hydrogen Production Cost

Single atom catalysts (SACs) with isolated active sites exhibit the highest reported mass activity for hydrogen evolution catalysis, which is crucial for practical applications. Here, we demonstrate that ultrahigh mass activity can also be achieved by rationally merging the isolated platinum (Pt) active sites in SAC. The catalyst was obtained by the thermodynamically driven diffusing and merging phosphorus-doped carbon (PC) supported Pt single atoms (Pt₁@PC) into Pt nanoclusters (Pt_M@PC). X-ray absorption spectroscopy analysis revealed that the merged nanoclusters exhibit much stronger interactions with the support than the traditional method, enabling more efficient electron transfer. The optimized Pt_M@PC exhibited an order of magnitude higher mass activity (12.7 A mg_Pt^-1) than Pt₁@PC (0.9 A mg_Pt^-1) at an overpotential of 10 mV in acidic media, which is the highest record to date, far exceeding reports for other outstanding SACs. Theoretical study revealed that the collective active sites in Pt_M@PC exhibit both favorable hydrogen binding energy and fast reaction kinetics, leading to the significantly enhanced mass activity. Despite its low Pt content (2.2 wt %), a low hydrogen production cost of ∼3 USD kg^-1 was finally achieved in the full-water splitting at a laboratory scale.