Amorphizing noble metal chalcogenide catalysts at the single-layer limit towards hydrogen production

• Main Authors: He, Yongmin, Liu, Liren, Zhu, Chao, Guo, Shasha, Golani, Prafful, Koo, Bonhyeong, Tang, Pengyi, Zhao, Zhiqiang, Xu, Manzhang, Yu, Peng, Zhou, Xin, Gao, Caitian, Wang, Xuewen, Shi, Zude, Zheng, Lu, Yang, Jiefu, Shin, Byungha, Arbiol, Jordi, Duan, Huigao, Du, Yonghua, Heggen, Marc, Dunin-Borkowski, Rafal E., Guo, Wanlin, Wang, Qi Jie, Zhang, Zhuhua, Liu, Zheng
• Other Authors: School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: 2022
• Subjects: Engineering::Materials::Nanostructured materials; Engineering::Materials::Energy materials; Catalysts; Amorphization
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/156235
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Rational design of noble metal catalysts with the potential to leverage efficiency is vital for industrial applications. Such an ultimate atom-utilization efficiency can be achieved when all noble metal atoms exclusively contribute to catalysis. Here, we demonstrate the fabrication of a wafer-size amorphous PtSex film on a SiO2 substate via a low-temperature amorphization strategy, which offers single-atom-layer Pt catalysts with high atom-utilization efficiency (~26 wt%). This amorphous PtSex (1.2 < x < 1.3) behaves as a fully activated surface, accessible to catalytic reactions, and features a nearly 100% current density relative to a pure Pt surface and reliable production of sustained high-flux hydrogen over a 2 inch wafer as a proof-of-concept. Furthermore, an electrolyser is demonstrated to generate a high current density of 1,000 mA cm−2. Such an amorphization strategy is potentially extendable to other noble metals, including the Pd, Ir, Os, Rh and Ru elements, demonstrating the universality of single-atom-layer catalysts. [Figure not available: see fulltext.]