Trimetallic Au@RhCu Core‐Shell Nanodendrites as Efficient Bifunctional Electrocatalysts toward Hydrogen and Oxygen Evolution Reactions

Abstract

Developing efficient and stable electrocatalysts for water splitting is highly desirable due to growing energy demands. Here, Au@RhCu nanodendrites with core‐shell nanostructure were facile generated via seed‐mediated method. Through composition optimization, the Au@Rh3Cu nanodendrites show excellent hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) activity with an overpotential of 83 mV at the current density of 10 mA cm−2, together with a small Tafel slope of 33.4 mV dec−1. Meanwhile, the Au@Rh3Cu nanocrystals are also a good oxygen evolution reaction (OER) catalyst with an overpotential of 415 mV (at 10 mA cm−2) and a Tafel slope of 127 mV dec−1. Additionally, the Au@Rh3Cu exhibits excellent stability for both HER and OER. Such attractive catalytic performance can be assigned to the large surface area produced by the unique core‐shell dendritic nanostructure, the synergistic effect between different metal elements and the positive influence of Au seeds. This work would offer a reliable pathway for the design of multimetallic core‐shell dendritic nanostructures as promising electrocatalysts toward water splitting.

Practical Classification of Catalysts for Oxygen Reduction Reactions: Optimization Strategies and Mechanistic Analysis

“…[36][37][38][39][40] At the macroscopic level, the overall design of the catalyst molecular cluster in morphology can often achieve some unexpected physical property changes, such as high adsorption of dissolved oxygen in the electrolyte, protection of active sites, inhibition of particle aggregation, and increased hydrophilicity. [41][42][43] Good design of morphology and structure is the most basic and efficient means to improve the intrinsic activity of ORR catalyst.…”

Single Phase Trimetallic Spinel CoCrxRh2‐xO4 Nanofibers for Highly Efficient Oxygen Evolution Reaction under Freshwater Mimicking Seawater Conditions

“…[ 2 ] In practice, water oxidation, the half reaction of water splitting, demands a highly efficient electrocatalyst due to the mechanism involving sluggish multi‐electron transfer kinetics throughout the process. [ 3 ] Recently, tri‐metallic electrocatalysts (e.g., Ni 60 Fe 30 Mn 10 , [ 4 ] NiFeCr, [ 5 ] Ir 95‐ x Pd 5 Pt x , [ 6 ] Au@RhCu, [ 7 ] etc.) show significantly enhanced OER performances in which the improvement could be induced by synergetic effect of the heterogenous elements in comparison with single‐ and bi‐metallic catalysts.…”

Nano-scale new Heusler compounds NiRh2Sb and CuRh2Sb: synthesis, characterization, and application as electrocatalysts

“…Rhodium and rhodium compounds are wellknown catalysts for reducing the overpotential in the OER and HER reactions in water splitting. [35][36][37][38] Nanomaterials, on the other hand, have the advantage of possessing a huge specic surface area, and the amount of catalyst can be thus economically used. Nanoparticles of functional alloys also have potential utilization in wearable electronics when attached or grown on exible substrates like carbon cloth.…”