RuIn Solid-Solution Alloy Nanoparticles with Enhanced Hydrogen Evolution Reaction Activity

Abstract

We report the synthesis of novel RuIn solidsolution alloy nanoparticles (NPs) via the electrochemical cleaning of RuIn@InO x NPs. By alloying In to Ru, the RuIn NPs exhibited enhanced hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) activity compared with monometallic face-centered cubic (fcc) Ru NPs. Furthermore, the HER activity of RuIn NPs was comparable to that of commercial Pt catalysts. At a current density of 10 mA cm −2 , RuIn NPs displayed a lower overpotential of 30.7 mV compared to monometallic fcc Ru NPs (57.8 mV) and commercial Pt NPs/C (34.1 mV). X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and X-ray absorption near edge structure analysis revealed charge transfer from In to Ru in RuIn NPs. The results indicate that the alloying of In with Ru leads to beneficial intermetallic charge transfer, which efficiently modulates the desorption energy barrier to intermediate H* and enhances the intrinsic HER performance of monometallic fcc Ru NPs.

Phase control of solid-solution RuIn nanoparticles and their catalytic properties

“…Recently, solid-solution RuIn alloy NPs with an fcc crystal structure have been obtained, and they are reported to exhibit enhanced HER performance. 25 To date, no research has been reported on the effect of the crystal structure of RuIn solid-solution alloy NPs on catalytic properties due to the difficulties associated with controlling the crystal structure.…”

“…According to our previous work, fcc RuIn NPs were obtained by wet chemistry and a cyclic voltammetry (CV) cleaning method. 25 The carbon-loaded fcc RuIn NPs were heated under a H 2 atmosphere to cause a phase transition from fcc to hcp. Experimental details are given in the ESI †…”