Rhodium nanocrystals on porous graphdiyne for electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution from saline water

The realization of the efficient hydrogen conversion with large current densities at low overpotentials represents the development trend of this field. Here we report the atomic active sites tailoring through a facile synthetic method to yield well-defined Rhodium nanocrystals in aqueous solution using formic acid as the reducing agent and graphdiyne as the stabilizing support. High-resolution high-angle annular dark-field scanning-transmission electron microscopy images show the high-density atomic steps on the faces of hex-ahedral Rh nanocrystals. Experimental results reveal the formation of stable sp-C-Rh bonds can stabilize Rh nanocrystals and further improve charge transfer ability in the system. Experimental and density functional theory calculation results solidly demonstrate the exposed high active stepped surfaces and various metal atomic sites affect the electronic structure of the catalyst to reduce the overpotential resulting in the large-current hydrogen production from saline water. This exciting result demonstrates unmatched electrocatalytic performance and highly stable saline water electrolysis.

Automated summary

This study reports the facile synthesis of well-defined Rhodium nanocrystals with high-density atomic steps in aqueous solution. The experimental results demonstrate the excellent electrocatalytic performance and high stability of the synthesized catalyst.