Engineering Ru@Ir Core-Shell Nanoparticles on Titanium Oxynitride-Graphene Support for a Highly Active and Durable...

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Electrochemistry
• Nanotechnology

Background:

• Efficient electrocatalysts are crucial for sustainable hydrogen production via water electrolysis.
• Reducing reliance on precious metals like platinum is a key challenge in electrocatalyst development.

Purpose of the Study:

• To design and synthesize a novel, low-precious-metal electrocatalyst for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER).
• To evaluate the performance and stability of the developed electrocatalyst in both acidic and alkaline media.

Main Methods:

• Fabrication of Ru@Ir core-shell nanoparticles on a titanium oxynitride-graphene hybrid support (Ru@Ir/TiOₓN<0xE1><0xB5><0xA7>-C).
• Electrochemical characterization using techniques like X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS).
• Theoretical analysis employing density functional theory (DFT) calculations.

Main Results:

• The Ru@Ir/TiOₓN<0xE1><0xB5><0xA7>-C catalyst exhibited superior HER performance in alkaline media, outperforming commercial Pt/C with a low overpotential of 13 mV at 10 mA cm⁻².
• In acidic media, the catalyst demonstrated performance comparable to Pt/C and superior to monometallic catalysts.
• The core-shell structure and strong metal-support interaction (MSI) with TiOₓN<0xE1><0xB5><0xA7> were confirmed to optimize adsorption energies.

Conclusions:

• The developed Ru@Ir/TiOₓN<0xE1><0xB5><0xA7>-C electrocatalyst offers a highly active and durable alternative to platinum for HER.
• The combination of core-shell nanostructures and engineered conductive supports provides a versatile platform for advanced electrocatalyst design.
• This approach significantly advances the potential for cost-effective and sustainable hydrogen production.