(382bo) Electronic Structure Promotion in Ni–Mo Oxides for Alkaline HER and Ordered Cu3Pt Nanocages for Durable ORR

Achieving cost-competitive green hydrogen requires electrocatalysts that sustain high current at low overpotential and minimize platinum-group-metal (PGM) use without sacrificing durability. In acidic PEM fuel cells, the cathodic oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) dictates Pt loading because sluggish kinetics and surface poisoning drive high mass-activity demands. In alkaline electrolyzers, the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is limited not by H* adsorption alone but by the water-dissociation (Volmer) step. Herein, we report two complementary advances. (1) For alkaline HER, we designed single atom Mo doped NiO nanoparticles for enhanced HER. In-situ XAS and Raman reveal that the Mo dopants maintain their coordination environment under applied potential without structural changes and promoted the transformation of Ni²⁺ species from NiO to Ni(OH)₂. (2) To cut down Pt loading without sacrificing performance, we designed intermetallic Cu₃Pt nanocages for ORR, we designed ordered intermetallic Cu₃Pt nanocages by galvanic replacement and selective etching. HAADF-STEM and EXAFS confirms uniform Cu₃Pt distributions. Cu₃Pt nanocages typically delivered about 3.6-fold higher mass activity and 5.5-fold higher specific activity than commercial Pt on ORR.

Research Interests

electrocatalysts, thin film deposition, electrochemistry, nanomaterial synthesis