A crystal glass–nanostructured Al-based electrocatalyst for hydrogen evolution reaction
Science Advances, vol. 8, pp. eadd6421
Abstract
Platinum-based catalysts are widely used in hydrogen evolution reactions; however, their applications are restricted because of the cost-efficiency trade-off. Here, we present a thermodynamics-based design strategy for synthesizing an Al 73 Mn 7 Ru 20 (atomic %) metal catalyst via combinatorial magnetron co-sputtering. The new electrocatalyst is composed of ~2 nanometers of medium-entropy nanocrystals surrounded by ~2 nanometers of amorphous regions. The catalyst exhibits exceptional performance, similar to that of single-atom catalysts and better than that of nanocluster-based catalysts. We use aluminum rather than a noble metal as the principal element of the catalyst and ruthenium, which is cheaper than platinum, as the noble metal component. The design strategy provides an efficient route for the development of electrocatalysts for use in large-scale hydrogen production. Moreover, the superior hydrogen reaction evolution created by the synergistic effect of the nano-dual-phase structure is expected to guide the development of high-performance catalysts in other alloy systems.
Authors 13
-
City University of Hong Kong · City University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen Research Institute · Shenyang National Laboratory for Materials Science
Affiliation as printed
Centre for Advanced Structural Materials, City University of Hong Kong Shenzhen Research Institute, Greater Bay Joint Division, Shenyang National Laboratory for Materials Science, Shenzhen 518057, China
Department of Mechanical Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
Hong Kong Branch of National Precious Metals Material Engineering Research Center, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
-
City University of Hong Kong · City University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen Research Institute · Shenyang National Laboratory for Materials Science
Affiliation as printed
Centre for Advanced Structural Materials, City University of Hong Kong Shenzhen Research Institute, Greater Bay Joint Division, Shenyang National Laboratory for Materials Science, Shenzhen 518057, China
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
Hong Kong Branch of National Precious Metals Material Engineering Research Center, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
-
City University of Hong Kong · City University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen Research Institute · Shenyang National Laboratory for Materials Science
Affiliation as printed
Centre for Advanced Structural Materials, City University of Hong Kong Shenzhen Research Institute, Greater Bay Joint Division, Shenyang National Laboratory for Materials Science, Shenzhen 518057, China
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
Hong Kong Branch of National Precious Metals Material Engineering Research Center, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
-
Chinese Academy of Sciences · Ningbo Institute of Industrial Technology
Affiliation as printed
Key Laboratory of Marine Materials and Related Technologies, Zhejiang Key Laboratory of Marine Materials and Protective Technologies, Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Ningbo, Zhejiang 315201, China
-
Affiliation as printed
Center for Advancing Materials Performance from the Nanoscale and Hysitron Applied Research Center in China, State Key Laboratory for Mechanical Behavior of Materials, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049, China
-
Max-Planck-Institut für Nachhaltige Materialien
Affiliation as printed
Max-Planck-Institut für Eisenforschung, Max-Planck-Straße 1, Düsseldorf 40237, Germany
-
Affiliation as printed
Department of Mechanical Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
Hong Kong Branch of National Precious Metals Material Engineering Research Center, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
-
City University of Hong Kong · City University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen Research Institute · Shenyang National Laboratory for Materials Science
Affiliation as printed
Centre for Advanced Structural Materials, City University of Hong Kong Shenzhen Research Institute, Greater Bay Joint Division, Shenyang National Laboratory for Materials Science, Shenzhen 518057, China
Department of Mechanical Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
Hong Kong Branch of National Precious Metals Material Engineering Research Center, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
-
City University of Hong Kong · City University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen Research Institute · Shenyang National Laboratory for Materials Science
Affiliation as printed
Centre for Advanced Structural Materials, City University of Hong Kong Shenzhen Research Institute, Greater Bay Joint Division, Shenyang National Laboratory for Materials Science, Shenzhen 518057, China
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
Hong Kong Branch of National Precious Metals Material Engineering Research Center, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
-
Affiliation as printed
Faculty of Georesources and Materials Engineering, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen 52056, Germany
-
Chinese Academy of Sciences · Ningbo Institute of Industrial Technology
Affiliation as printed
Key Laboratory of Marine Materials and Related Technologies, Zhejiang Key Laboratory of Marine Materials and Protective Technologies, Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Ningbo, Zhejiang 315201, China
-
City University of Hong Kong · City University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen Research Institute · Shenyang National Laboratory for Materials Science
Affiliation as printed
Centre for Advanced Structural Materials, City University of Hong Kong Shenzhen Research Institute, Greater Bay Joint Division, Shenyang National Laboratory for Materials Science, Shenzhen 518057, China
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
Hong Kong Branch of National Precious Metals Material Engineering Research Center, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
-
City University of Hong Kong · City University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen Research Institute · Shenyang National Laboratory for Materials Science
Affiliation as printed
Centre for Advanced Structural Materials, City University of Hong Kong Shenzhen Research Institute, Greater Bay Joint Division, Shenyang National Laboratory for Materials Science, Shenzhen 518057, China
CityU-Shenzhen Futian Research Institute, Shenzhen 518045, China
Department of Mechanical Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
Hong Kong Branch of National Precious Metals Material Engineering Research Center, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
Cited by 69 stored of 70
No patents citing this paper on Lens.org (checked 2026-10-06).