Boosting hydrogen evolution performance of nanoporous Fe-Pd alloy electrocatalyst by metastable phase engineering

• Published in: Applied catalysis. B, Environmental Vol. 345; p. 123677
• Main Authors: Li, Zhangyi, Wang, Chaoyang, Liang, Yanqin, Jiang, Hui, Wu, Shuilin, Li, Zhaoyang, Xu, Wence, Zhu, Shengli, Cui, Zhenduo
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 15.05.2024
• Subjects: Dealloying; Electrocatalysis; Hydrogen evolution reaction; Metastable phase; Electrocatalysis; Hydrogen evolution reaction; Dealloying; Metastable phase
• ISSN: 0926-3373; 1873-3883
• DOI: 10.1016/j.apcatb.2023.123677

Nanoporous Fe-Pd alloy with metastable face-centered cubic (fcc Fe-Pd) phase is prepared by electrochemical dealloying as an electrocatalyst for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). The nanoporous fcc Fe-Pd alloy achieves an overpotential of 58 mV at 10 mA cm−2 in 1 M KOH, outperforming those of stable body-centered cubic Fe-Pd alloy (bcc Fe-Pd) and commercial Pt/C catalyst. Density functional theory calculation reveals that the metastable fcc structure can tailor the coordination environment and electronic structure of Pd active sites in Fe-Pd alloy. As a result, the d‐band center of Pd active site shifts away from the Fermi level, which weakens the Pd-H interaction and reduces the energy barrier of water dissociation. In addition, the fcc Fe-Pd exhibits good mechanical properties, which maintains the catalytic performance in the deformation state. This work broadens the idea for designing and preparing HER catalysts via metastable phase structure design. [Display omitted] •The metastable fcc structure can tailor the coordination environment and electronic structure of Pd in Fe-Pd alloy.•Compared with the steady state bcc Fe-Pd catalyst, the metastable fcc Fe-Pd catalyst has higher catalytic activity.•The nano-porous catalyst with sandwich structure has good mechanical properties.