Compressive Strain in Platinum-Iridium-Nickel Zigzag-Like Nanowire Boosts Hydrogen Catalysis

Strain effect in the structurally defective materials can contribute to the catalysis optimization. However, it is challenging to achieve the performance improvement by strain modulation with the help of geometrical structure because strain is spatially dependent. Here, a new class of compressively strained platinum-iridium-metal zigzag-like nanowires (PtIrM ZNWs, M = nickel (Ni), cobalt (Co), iron (Fe), zinc (Zn) and gallium (Ga)) is reported as the efficient alkaline hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and hydrogen oxidation reaction (HOR) catalysts. Particularly, the optimized PtIrNi ZNWs with 3% compressive strain (cs-PtIrNi ZNWs) can achieve the highest HER/HOR performances among all the catalysts investigate. Their HOR mass and specific activities are 3.2/14.4 and 2.6/32.7 times larger than those of PtIrNi NWs and commercial Pt/C, respectively. Simultaneously, they can exhibit the superior stability and high CO resistance for HOR. Further, experimental and theoretical studies collectively reveal that the compressive strain in cs-PtIrNi ZNWs effectively weakens the adsorption of hydroxyl intermediate and modulates the electronic structure, resulting in the weakened hydrogen binding energy (HBE) and moderate hydroxide binding energy (OHBE), beneficial for the improvement of HOR performance. This work highlights the importance of strain tuning in enhancing Pt-based nanomaterials for hydrogen catalysis and beyond.