PtRu alloy nanoparticles embedded on C2N nanosheets for efficient hydrogen evolution reaction in both acidic and alkaline solutions

Designing a highly efficient and low-cost electrocatalyst for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is of great importance to produce high-purity hydrogen, yet it still remains a huge challenge. Here, we present a facile synthesis of this electrocatalyst, PtRu alloy nanoparticles supported on C 2 N nanosheets , using a condensation-reduction approach. The PtRu@C 2 N exhibits comparable performance than the commercial Pt/C and higher efficiency than monometallic Pt@C 2 N and Ru@C 2 N in both acidic and alkaline conditions. The highly enhanced activity and fast kinetics of PtRu@C 2 N were attributed to the large electrochemical active surface area, unique electronic structure of PtRu nanoparticles on C 2 N nanosheets. Density functional theory calculations show that the alloy effect and the metal-support interaction in PtRu@C 2 N catalyst optimizes the adsorption energy of H atom and other intermediates, resulting in the improvement of HER activity.