Dual active site engineering in porous NiW bimetallic alloys for enhanced alkaline hydrogen evolution reaction

Li, Weijie, Ni, Zhenrui, Akdim, Ouardia, Liu, Tao, Zhu, Bicheng, Kuang, Panyong and Yu, Jiaguo 2025. Dual active site engineering in porous NiW bimetallic alloys for enhanced alkaline hydrogen evolution reaction. Advanced Materials 37 (29) , 2503742. 10.1002/adma.202503742 Item availability restricted.

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Abstract

Utilizing dual active sites in electrocatalysts creates a synergistic effect, enabling the independent optimization of H2O dissociation and intermediate adsorption/desorption, which in turn enhances the efficiency of the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Herein, a porous NiW bimetallic alloy electrocatalyst using a dynamic H2 bubble template (DHBT) strategy is fabricated. This electrocatalyst capitalizes on the synergistic effect of dual active sites, achieving industrial‐level current densities of 500 and 1000 mA cm−2 for HER in 1.0 M KOH, with low overpotentials of 198 and 264 mV, respectively. It also demonstrates excellent stability over a 200 h test. Theoretical studies reveal that alloying Ni with W shifts the d‐band center (εd) of the W 5d orbital downward, which enhances *OH intermediate desorption and promotes H2O adsorption and dissociation at the W site, leading to increased active site availability. Meanwhile, this shift provides more accessible H* intermediates, further enhancing H2 production at the Ni2W1 hollow site. When the porous NiW bimetallic alloy electrocatalyst is implemented in a solar‐driven water splitting system, it achieves a high solar‐to‐hydrogen (STH) conversion efficiency of 16.59%. This work underscores the effectiveness of dual active site electrocatalysts for sustainable H2 production.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Research Institutes & Centres > Cardiff Catalysis Institute (CCI) Schools > Chemistry
Additional Information:	License information from Publisher: LICENSE 1: URL: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor, Start Date: 2025-05-09
Publisher:	Wiley
ISSN:	0935-9648
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	24 July 2025
Date of Acceptance:	9 May 2025
Last Modified:	02 Sep 2025 11:45
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/178713

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