Promoted Electrochemical Hydrogen Evolution Kinetics by Anchoring Pt Nanoparticles on a Conductive Ti4O7 Support

Ensuring efficient noble metal utilization while maintaining rapid electron transport and long-term durability remains a central challenge in the acidic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Herein, we report a platinum catalyst supported on Magneli phase Ti4O7, a conductive oxide obtained via the hydrogen reduction of TiO2(B), in which the support plays an active electronic role rather than serving as an inert scaffold. Electrochemical and spectroscopic analyses reveal that the mixed Ti3+/Ti4+ valence states and high electrical conductivity of Ti4O7 enable strong electronic coupling with Pt, leading to reduced charge-transfer resistance and more favorable hydrogen adsorption kinetics. As a result, the optimized 3 wt % Pt/Ti4O7 catalyst achieves an overpotential of 13 mV at 10 mA cm–2 with sustained activity over 100 h in 0.5 M H2SO4. These findings demonstrate that conductive oxide supports can actively regulate interfacial electron transfer and reaction kinetics, offering a viable strategy for low noble metal loading and high-performance HER catalysts.