High-valent Non-3d metal modulated amorphous PtRu clusters for efficient and stable pH-Universal hydrogen evolution reaction

Modulating the electronic structure of nanoclusters with high-valence metals is essential for boosting the activity of pH-universal hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) catalysts. Here, we enhance the high-valence Mo-induced strong metal-support interaction (SMSI) between anchored amorphous sub-2 nm PtRu nanoclusters and phosphomolybdic acid (H 3 PMo 12 O 40 , PMo 12 ) through a one-pot route. The optimized Pt 0 · 63 Ru 0 · 37 /PMo 12 catalyst requires overpotentials of only 27 mV (alkaline), 38 mV (neutral), and 14 mV (acidic) to drive 10 mA cm −2 . Its mass activities (9.89, 8.77, and 9.67 A mg −1 Pt + Ru ) are 3.99, 4.59, and 3.01 times higher than those of Pt/C, respectively. Structural analysis and in situ Raman experiments confirm that the electronic structure modulation between PMo 12 and PtRu clusters accelerates water adsorption/desorption, thereby enhancing HER kinetics. Finally, the assembled Pt 0 · 63 Ru 0 · 37 /PMo 12 || IrO 2 anion exchange membrane electrolyzer operates stably for over 300 h at 500 mA cm −2 . This study broadens the support selection for pH-universal water-splitting catalysts.