Low‐Iridium‐Content IrNiTa Metallic Glass Films as Intrinsically Active Catalysts for Hydrogen Evolution Reaction

Abstract

Although various catalytic materials have emerged for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), it remains crucial to develop intrinsically effective catalysts with minimum uses of expensive and scarce precious metals. Metallic glasses (MGs) or amorphous alloys show up as attractive HER catalysts, but have so far limited to material forms and compositions that result in high precious‐metal loadings. Here, an Ir25Ni33Ta42 MG nanofilm exhibiting high intrinsic activity and superior stability at an ultralow Ir loading of 8.14 µg cm−2 for HER in 0.5 m H2SO4 is reported. With an overpotential of 99 mV for a current density of 10 mA cm−2, a small Tafel slope of 35 mV dec−1, and high turnover frequencies of 1.76 and 19.3 H2 s−1 at 50 and 100 mV overpotentials, the glassy film is among the most intrinsically active HER catalysts, outcompetes any reported MG, representative sulfides, and phosphides, and compares favorably with other precious‐metal‐containing catalysts. The outstanding HER performance of the Ir25Ni33Ta42 MG film is attributed to the synergistic effect of the novel alloy system and amorphous structure, which may inspire the development of multicomponent alloys for heterogeneous catalysis.

Rational Design and Controlled Synthesis of V‐Doped Ni3S2/NixPy Heterostructured Nanosheets for the Hydrogen Evolution Reaction

“…As ah alf-reaction of overall water splitting, the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) has been considered to be the most promisingm ethodt op roduce hydrogen with environmental and efficiency advantages. [1][2][3][4][5] Compared with acidic solution, H 2 Oh as higherd issociation energy under alkalinec onditions and it is more difficult to generateH *, so it is meaningful to develop efficient catalysts forH ER in alkalines olution. [6,7] Up to now,o wing to the lowest overpotential, materials based on the noble metal Pt are among the moste fficient and widely studied catalysts for HER.…”

Structures and Functional Properties of Amorphous Alloys

“…[ 57–60 ] Compared with crystalline materials, amorphous alloys have more active sites on the disordered surfaces and exhibit enhanced electrochemical performances as electrocatalysts in water splitting and as anode materials in Li‐ion batteries. [ 29,30,61–64 ] In addition, amorphous alloys have no grain boundaries and show superior corrosion resistance in acidic and alkaline electrolytes.…”

“…Recently, the amorphous IrNiTa film with an ultralow Ir loading of 8.14 μg cm −2 is fabricated as a low‐cost catalyst and exhibits a high intrinsic activity. [ 62 ] The HRTEM image and the corresponding selected‐area electron diffraction (SAED) pattern of the as‐deposited IrNiTa film demonstrate its amorphous nature ( Figure a). Atomic force microscope (AFM) measurements show that the surface of the IrNiTa film is atomically flat (Figure 5b).…”

“…Many amorphous alloys systems, e.g., PdNiCuP, NiFe, NiFeP, and FeSiB alloys, also exhibit excellent electrocatalytic activities and superior stability. [ 62,64–68 ] Based on the results of density functional theory calculations, the complex local chemical environments of atoms at the surface of amorphous alloys make the free energy distribution of active sites wider than that of crystalline materials. [ 64 ] This leads to the abundant types of active sites in amorphous alloys and the superior catalytic performance.…”

Mulberry‐Inspired Nickel‐Niobium Phosphide on Plasma‐Defect‐Engineered Carbon Support for High‐Performance Hydrogen Evolution

“…Figure 2g and Ni 2p 1/2 derived from Ni 3+ . [26,27] Figure 3b exhibits the high resolution spectrum of Nb 3d peak of the Ni-Nb-P compound, and the peak at 208.5 eV corresponds to Nb 4+ . Specifically, the binding energy of 207.8 and 210.7 eV is related to Nb 2 O 5 species.…”