Modulating Pt-O-Pt atomic clusters with isolated cobalt atoms for enhanced hydrogen evolution catalysis.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 35508501.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-022-30155-4 and PMC identifier 9068789.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Platinum is the most efficient catalyst for hydrogen evolution reaction in acidic conditions, but its widespread use has been impeded by scarcity and high cost. Herein, Pt atomic clusters (Pt ACs) containing Pt-O-Pt units were prepared using Co/N co-doped carbon (CoNC) as support. Pt ACs are anchored to single Co atoms on CoNC by forming strong interactions. Pt-ACs/CoNC exhibits only 24 mV overpotential at 10 mA cm<sup>-2</sup> and a high mass activity of 28.6 A mg<sup>-1</sup> at 50 mV, which is more than 6 times higher than commercial Pt/C with any Pt loadings. Spectroscopic measurements and computational modeling reveal the enhanced hydrogen generation activity attributes to the charge redistribution between Pt and O atoms in Pt-O-Pt units, making Pt atoms the main active sites and O linkers the assistants, thus optimizing the proton adsorption and hydrogen desorption. This work opens an avenue to fabricate noble-metal-based ACs stabilized by single-atom catalysts with desired properties for electrocatalysis.