Boosting Hydrogen Evolution in Neutral Medium by Accelerating Water Dissociation with Ru Clusters Loaded on Mo2CTx MXene

Abstract

AbstractElectrocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) in mild neutral medium is a compelling goal for environmentally sustainable energy conversion, but its development is greatly limited by slow kinetics. Platinum group noble metals exhibit ultra‐high HER activities, but their scarcity and performance instability restrict wide application. Herein, taking advantage of excellent catalyst carrier properties of 2D‐layered transition metal carbides (MXenes), highly dispersed of Ru clusters anchored on Mo2CTx MXene are demonstrated as a superior HER electrocatalyst, which is prepared by a facile in situ reduction strategy. The as‐prepared Ru/Mo2CTx catalyst exhibits a very low overpotential of 73 mV to achieve a current density of −10 mA cm−2 and Tafel slope of 57 mV dec−1 in neutral medium, surpassing performance of most previously reported MXene‐based catalysts. In addition, Ru/Mo2CTx catalyst also presents superior stability compared to commercial Pt/C. Experimental results and theoretical calculations indicate that the interaction between Ru clusters modulates the electronic structure of active sites and promotes H2O dissociation and hydrogen desorption.