Tuning the Electronic Properties of Platinum in Hybrid-Nanoparticle Assemblies for use in Hydrogen Evolution Reaction
Ling Yang1, Roland Grzeschik2, Ping Jiang1
1Key Lab of Advanced Energy Materials Chemistry (Ministry of Education), Renewable Energy Conversion and Storage Center, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Biosensing and Molecular Recognition, College of Chemistry, Nankai University, Weijin Rd. 94, Tianjin, 300071, China.
Abstract:
Platinum is the best electrocatalyst for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Here, we demonstrate that by contact electrification of Pt nanoparticle satellites on a gold or silver core, the Fermi level of Pt can be tuned. The electronic properties of Pt in such hybrid nanocatalysts were experimentally characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) with the probe molecule 2,6-dimethyl phenyl isocyanide (2,6-DMPI). Our experimental findings are corroborated by a hybridization model and density functional theory (DFT) calculations. Finally, we demonstrate that tuning of the Fermi level of Pt results in reduced or increased overpotentials in water splitting.
