Electrocatalytic Hydrogen Oxidation by Defect-Enriched CuW Nanoalloy Featuring Hydrogen Spillover Effect

Area of Science:

• Electrochemistry
• Materials Science
• Catalysis

Background:

• Efficient non-noble metal electrocatalysts for hydrogen oxidation reaction (HOR) are vital for the hydrogen economy.
• The hydrogen spillover effect is a key strategy to enhance HOR catalyst activity.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop an alkali-resistant, non-noble metal electrocatalyst for HOR.
• To leverage the hydrogen spillover effect for improved catalytic performance.

Main Methods:

• Facile and controllable electrodeposition strategy to synthesize W-doped Cu nanoalloy/WO3 electrocatalyst.
• In-situ synthesis of CuW on carbon paper (CP).
• X-ray absorption fine structure (XAFS) and density functional theory (DFT) calculations.
• In-situ Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) and Raman spectroscopy.

Main Results:

• The synthesized CuW electrocatalyst exhibited exceptional HOR performance (1.86 mA cm-2 at 0.05 V vs. RHE) and stability in alkaline media.
• Alloying W into Cu lattice induced electronic modulation, enhancing H2 adsorption, decomposition, and oxidation.
• Hydrogen spillover from W/WO3 sites to Cu substrates was confirmed via in-situ spectroscopy.

Conclusions:

• The study presents a novel W-doped Cu nanoalloy/WO3 electrocatalyst for efficient HOR.
• The design strategy focuses on optimizing hydrogen spillover channels for enhanced catalytic activity.
• This work offers a new approach for developing high-performance HOR electrocatalysts.