PtRu alloy nanoparticles embedded on C2N nanosheets for efficient hydrogen evolution reaction in both acidic and alkaline solutions

Abstract

Designing a highly efficient and low-cost electrocatalyst for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is of great importance to produce high-purity hydrogen, yet it still remains a huge challenge. Here, we present a facile synthesis of this electrocatalyst, PtRu alloy nanoparticles supported on C2N nanosheets, using a condensation-reduction approach. The PtRu@C2N exhibits comparable performance than the commercial Pt/C and higher efficiency than monometallic Pt@C2N and Ru@C2N in both acidic and alkaline conditions. The highly enhanced activity and fast kinetics of PtRu@C2N were attributed to the large electrochemical active surface area, unique electronic structure of PtRu nanoparticles on C2N nanosheets. Density functional theory calculations show that the alloy effect and the metal-support interaction in PtRu@C2N catalyst optimizes the adsorption energy of H atom and other intermediates, resulting in the improvement of HER activity.