Abstract
Developing noble metal-based alloy nanoparticle (NP) electrocatalysts on solid supports with fast kinetics for alkaline hydrogen oxidation reaction (HOR) and hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is of considerable importance but remains a bottleneck for the potential applications of alkaline water electrolyzers and fuel cells. Herein, we design and implement a void confinement-mediated strategy to synthesize homogeneously distributed IrNi alloy NPs (4.23 nm in diameter) using nitrogen-abundant hollow carbon spheres (NHCSs) as the matrices. Attributing to the small nanostructured IrNi alloys, highly porous NHCSs with rich N-dopant, and the composition-tuned synergistic effect between Ir and Ni metals, the Ir2Ni8/NHCSs composite exhibits impressive electrocatalytic performances for HOR and HER, with an exchange current density of 246 A g Ir−1 in 0.1 M KOH and an overpotential of 54 mV at 10 mA cm−2 in 1.0 M KOH, respectively, outperforming the benchmark Pt/C and many reported noble metal-based electrocatalysts. The electrocatalyst also delivers favorable long-term stability for HOR and HER. The present study offers a feasible way to fabricate bifunctional electrocatalysts toward alkaline HOR/HER catalysis.
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