Medium-Entropy Engineering of Pt/FeCo Layered Double Hydroxide for Synergistically Enhanced Alkaline Hydrogen...

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Electrochemistry
• Green Chemistry

Background:

• Efficient electrocatalysts are vital for green hydrogen production via the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER).
• Reducing platinum (Pt) loading in catalysts is essential for economic viability.
• Developing stable and active catalysts remains a significant challenge.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a highly efficient and stable electrocatalyst with low platinum loading for the HER.
• To introduce a novel "medium-entropy engineering" strategy for catalyst design.
• To investigate the performance of Pt supported on FeCo layered double hydroxide (LDH) via this new strategy.

Main Methods:

• A two-step hydrothermal method was employed to synthesize the catalyst.
• Medium-entropy engineering was utilized to create a Pt/FeCo LDH hybrid electrocatalyst (MEH) on nickel foam.
• Systematic characterization techniques including X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) were used.

Main Results:

• The Pt/FeCo LDH-MEH electrocatalyst exhibited well-dispersed Pt nanoparticles on a 3D flower-like nanostructure with abundant surface defects.
• Strong electronic interactions between Pt and the FeCo LDH support were observed, tuning the electronic structure.
• The catalyst demonstrated excellent HER activity, achieving low overpotentials (19 mV at 10 mA cm⁻² and 64 mV at 100 mA cm⁻²) and a low Tafel slope (30.1 mV dec⁻¹).

Conclusions:

• The medium-entropy engineering strategy successfully produced a high-performance, low-Pt-loading electrocatalyst.
• The developed Pt/FeCo LDH-MEH catalyst offers superior HER activity, stability, and reduced charge-transfer resistance compared to commercial Pt/C.
• This approach provides a promising design strategy for advanced electrocatalysts in green hydrogen technology.