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Plasmonically Enhanced Hydrogen Evolution on Anisotropic AuPt Nanowires with Submonolayer Pt Surface Coverage
IbrahiM Abdelsalam1, Shiqi Wang1, Hugo L S Santos1
1Department of Chemistry, University of Helsinki, A.I. Virtasen aukio 1, PO Box 55, Helsinki, FIN-0014, Finland.
Small (Weinheim an Der Bergstrasse, Germany)
|October 30, 2025
Summary
Researchers developed new gold-platinum (AuPt) nanowire electrocatalysts for efficient hydrogen production. These catalysts, utilizing plasmonic excitation, show significantly enhanced activity and reduce precious metal use.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Nanotechnology
- Electrochemistry
Background:
- Efficient electrocatalysts are crucial for hydrogen production.
- Harnessing plasmonic excitation for electrocatalysis is a developing field.
- Designing catalysts with reduced precious metal loading is an ongoing challenge.
Purpose of the Study:
- To rationally design and synthesize anisotropic AuPt nanowires for plasmon-enhanced electrocatalytic hydrogen production.
- To investigate the effect of precise platinum (Pt) surface coverage on catalyst performance.
- To understand the synergistic interplay between catalytic and plasmonic properties.
Main Methods:
- Density functional theory (DFT) predictions guided catalyst design.
- Systematic synthesis of AuPt nanowires with controlled Pt coverage.
- Characterization using electron microscopy, spectroscopy, and electrochemical analysis.
Main Results:
- Anisotropic AuPt nanowires with submonolayer Pt coverage demonstrated high hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) activity.
- Achieved mass activities up to 9.3 A mg-1 Pt at -0.05 V vs RHE, a ≈7-fold enhancement over commercial Pt/C.
- Submonolayer Pt coverage optimized catalytic sites, electronic coupling, and plasmonic properties.
Conclusions:
- The synergistic combination of catalytic and plasmonic properties in AuPt nanowires is a promising strategy.
- Reduced precious metal usage is achievable without compromising catalytic performance.
- This work provides a framework for designing efficient electrocatalysts for renewable energy conversion.
