Crystalline Ru_0.33Se Nanoparticles‐Decorated TiO₂ Nanotube Arrays for Enhanced Hydrogen Evolution Reaction

Abstract

Nowadays, the state-of-the-art electrocatalysts for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) are platinum group metals. Nonetheless, Pt-based catalysts show decreased HER activity in alkaline media compared with that in acidic media due to the sluggish dissociation process of H₂ O on the surface of Pt. With a cost 1/25 that of Pt, Ru demonstrates a favorable dissociation kinetics of absorbed H₂ O. Herein, crystalline Ru_0.33 Se nanoparticles are decorated onto TiO₂ nanotube arrays (TNAs) to fabricate Ru_0.33 Se @ TNA hybrid for HER. Owing to the large-specific surface area, Ru_0.33 Se nanoparticles are freely distributed and the particle aggregation is eliminated, providing more active sites. The contracted electron transport pathway rendered by TiO₂ nanotubes and the synergistic effect at the interface significantly improve the charge transfer efficiency in the hybrid catalyst. Compared with Ru_0.33 Se nanoparticles deposited directly on the Ti foil (Ru_0.33 Se/Ti) or carbon cloth (Ru_0.33 Se/CC), Ru_0.33 Se @ TNA shows an enhanced catalytic activity with an overpotential of 57 mV to afford a current density of 10 mA cm^-2 , a Tafel slope of 50.0 mV dec^-1 . Furthermore, the hybrid catalyst also exhibits an outstanding catalytic stability. The strategy here opens up a new synthetic avenue to the design of highly efficient hybrid electrocatalysts for hydrogen production.