Boosting Alkaline Hydrogen Evolution Reaction through Water Structure Manipulation

Abstract

In the past, the design of efficient electrocatalyst materials for alkaline Hydrogen Evolution Reaction (HER) were mostly focused on tuning the adsorption properties of reaction intermediates. A recent breakthrough shows that the performance can be improved by manipulating water structure at the electrode-electrolyte interface using atomically localized electric fields. Such effect was realized on IrRu Dizygotic Single-Atom Sites (DSAC), which shows significantly accelerated water dissociation and improved alkaline HER performance. Supported by extensive data from advanced modelling, characterization, and electrochemical measurement, the work delivers an intricate examination of the interaction between water molecules and the catalyst surface, thereby enriching our understanding of water dissociation kinetics and proposing new insights to boost overall alkaline HER efficiency.