Ruthenium-Alloyed Iron Phosphide Single Crystal with Increased Fermi Level for Efficient Hydrogen Evolution

Research output: Contribution to journalResearch articleContributedpeer-review

Contributors

  • Yu Kang - , Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids (Author)
  • Yujia Han - , CAS - Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics (Author)
  • Hedong Chen - , Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids (Author)
  • Horst Borrmann - , Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids (Author)
  • Peter Adler - , Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids (Author)
  • Darius Pohl - , Dresden Center for Nanoanalysis (DCN) (Author)
  • Martin Hantusch - , Leibniz Institute for Solid State and Materials Research Dresden (Author)
  • Markus König - , Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids (Author)
  • Yangkun He - , Beihang University (Author)
  • Yufei Ma - , Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids (Author)
  • Xiaodong Wang - , CAS - Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics (Author)
  • Claudia Felser - , Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids (Author)

Abstract

Transition metal phosphide alloying is an effective approach for optimizing the electronic structure and improving the intrinsic performance of the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). However, obtaining 3d transition metal phosphides alloyed with noble metals is still a challenge owing to their difference in electronegativity, and the influence of their electronic structure modulated by noble metals on the HER reaction also remains unclear. In this study, we successfully incorporated Ru into an Fe2P single crystal via the Bridgeman method and used it as a model catalyst, which effectively promoted HER. Hall transport measurements combined with first-principles calculations revealed that Ru acted as an electron dopant in the structure and increased the Fermi level, leading to a decreased water dissociation barrier and an improved electron-transfer Volmer step at low overpotentials. Additionally, the (21¯ 1) facet of Ru-Fe2P was found to be more active than its (001) facet, mainly due to the lower H desorption barrier at high overpotentials. The synergistic effect of Ru and Fe sites was also revealed to facilitate H∗ and OH∗ desorption compared with Fe2P. Therefore, this study elucidates the boosting effect of Ru-alloyed iron phosphides and offers new understanding about the relationship between their electronic structure and HER performance.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)55587-55593
Number of pages7
JournalACS Applied Materials and Interfaces
Volume14
Issue number50
Publication statusPublished - 21 Dec 2022
Peer-reviewedYes

External IDs

PubMed 36484529
ORCID /0000-0002-4859-4325/work/142253324

Keywords

Research priority areas of TU Dresden

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Keywords

  • electronic structure, hydrogen evolution, iron phosphide alloy, ruthenium, single crystal

Library keywords