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In Situ Explosion Induced "Stress + Defect" Structure for Enhanced Hydrogen Evolution Reaction
Ziheng Zhan1, Chen Li2, Qian Bai1
1School of Materials Science and Engineering, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, China.
Angewandte Chemie (International Ed. in English)
|August 5, 2026
Summary
An explosive-driven method creates platinum nanoparticle catalysts on UiO-66 with tunable lattice strain. This novel approach enhances catalytic activity for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) by optimizing electronic structure.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Catalysis
- Nanotechnology
Background:
- Integrating lattice strain and defects is key for tuning catalyst electronic structure.
- Synthesizing catalysts with controlled strain and defects remains challenging.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop an explosive-driven synthesis for Pt nanoparticle-decorated UiO-66 (PtNP/UiO-66) catalysts.
- To investigate the impact of tunable tensile lattice strain and defect engineering on catalytic performance.
Main Methods:
- Explosive-driven synthesis to generate Pt nanoparticles with controlled lattice strain.
- Anchoring Pt nanoparticles onto defect-rich UiO-66 to form Schottky junctions.
- Utilizing in situ X-ray Absorption Fine Structure (XAFS) and Density Functional Theory (DFT) for structural and electronic analysis.
Main Results:
- PtNP/UiO-66 catalysts with varying degrees of tensile lattice strain were successfully synthesized.
- The catalyst with the highest lattice tensile strain (PtNP-10/UiO-66) exhibited a low overpotential of 16 mV for acidic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER).
- Lattice strain was shown to systematically modulate the adsorption strength of H* intermediates.
Conclusions:
- The explosive-driven approach offers a viable strategy for creating strain-engineered heterogeneous catalysts.
- Tunable lattice strain and defect engineering are effective in enhancing catalytic activity.
- Understanding the structure-activity relationship through in situ measurements and DFT is crucial for catalyst design.
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