Topologically Close‐Packed Frank‐Kasper C15 Phase Intermetallic Ir Alloy Electrocatalysts Enables High‐Performance Proton Exchange Membrane Water Electrolyzer

Abstract

Chemical synthesis of unconventional topologically close‐packed intermetallic nanocrystals (NCs) remains a considerable challenge due to the limitation of large volume asymmetry between the components. Here, a series of unconventional intermetallic Frank‐Kasper C15 phase Ir2M (M = rare earth metals La, Ce, Gd, Tb, Tm) NCs is successfully prepared via a molten‐salt assisted reduction method as efficient electrocatalysts for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Compared to the disordered counterpart (A1‐Ir2Ce), C15‐Ir2Ce features higher Ir‐Ce coordination number that leads to an electron‐rich environment for Ir sites. The C15‐Ir2Ce catalyst exhibits excellent and pH‐universal HER activity and requires only 9, 16, and 27 mV overpotentials to attain 10 mA cm−2 in acidic, alkaline, and neutral electrolytes, respectively, representing one of the best HER electrocatalysts ever reported. In a proton exchange membrane water electrolyzer, the C15‐Ir2Ce cathode achieves an industrial‐scale current density of 1 A cm−2 with a remarkably low cell voltage of 1.7 V at 80 °C and can operate stably for 1000 h with a sluggish voltage decay rate of 50 µV h−1. Theoretical investigations reveal that the electron‐rich Ir sites intensify the polarization of *H2O intermediate on C15‐Ir2Ce, thus lowering the energy barrier of the water dissociation and facilitating the HER kinetics.