N-doping induced lattice-strained porous PdIr bimetallene for pH-universal hydrogen evolution electrocatalysis

Porous Pd-based metallene with highly curved, ultrathin and porous architectural features is a promising candidate for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), and structural design and component modification can effectively enhance its performance. Herein, we present a powerful approach to boost the HER performance of porous PdIr bimetallene through N-doping, which can effectively modulate the electronic structure and induce the strain effect of the designed N-doped porous PdIr bimetallene (N-PdIr bimetallene). The porous N-PdIr bimetallene exhibits superior all-pH HER activity and stability. To generate a cathodic current density of 10 mA cm−2, the required overpotential for the porous N-PdIr bimetallene is 26, 34 and 59 mV in 0.5 M H2SO4, 1 M KOH and 1 M phosphate buffer solution (PBS), respectively, which outperform those of commercial Pt/C. The proposed N-doping approach is a very powerful strategy for boosting metallene electrocatalytic performance, beyond the HER.