Fuel cells are a highly promising class of energy conversion devices, with the potential to address the growing global demand for sustainable power. In this work, a Pt/Ni-PrF 3 /C electrocatalyst was synthesized by incorporating PrF 3 -doped nickel particles, which notably enhanced catalytic performance for both the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and methanol oxidation reaction (MOR). In 1.0 mol L -1 KOH, the catalyst exhibited a low overpotential of 77.7 mV at 100 mA cm -2 for the HER, and achieves an overpotential of 68.7 mV in simulated seawater (1.0 mol L -1 KOH + 0.5 mol L -1 NaCl). Meanwhile, in 1.0 mol L -1 KOH + 1.0 mol L -1 CH 3 OH, it achieves a high mass activity of 4.58 A mg Pt -1 toward MOR. The combination of experimental characterization and density functional theory (DFT) calculations reveal that the introduction of Pr promotes charge transfer and optimizes the adsorption free energy of *H intermediate, yielding a value closest to zero, which indicates optimal adsorption strength. This synergistic modulation not only enhanced HER activity by facilitating the Tafel step via a downshift in the d -band center of Pt, but also improved MOR performance. Specifically, the enhanced selectivity toward the CHOOH pathway effectively suppresses *CO accumulation, mitigates CO poisoning, and contributes to the improved activity and stability observed during the MOR. Overall, this study proposes a rare-earth-mediated strategy using Pr-doped Ni to modulate the electronic structure of Pt, offering an effective route for designing advanced electrocatalysts for energy conversion applications. Pt/Ni-PrF 3 /C (Pt cluster-on-(Ni-PrF 3 ) particle-supported on carbon) as a highly efficient and active bifunctional catalyst for both the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) via electrolysis of water / simulated seawater and methanol oxidation reaction (MOR). Water undergo dissociative adsorption at Ni sites, and the resulting hydrogen species subsequently spill over to adjacent Pt atoms, where they recombine to form H 2 and desorb. Meanwhile, methanol is oxidized to CO 2 via the formate (HCOO*) pathway. • It reports a carbon-supported Pt cluster-(Ni-PrF 3 ) composite nanoparticle catalyst (Pt/Ni-PrF 3 /C) • Pt/Ni-PrF 3 /C is highly efficient for the HER via electrolysis of water/simulated seawater and MOR • Pt/Ni-PrF 3 /C requires only 77.7/68.7 mV to achieve 100 mA cm -2 in 1 M KOH/ simulated seawater, respectively, outperforming most reported Pt-based catalysts • The Pr-induced charge redistribution among Ni, Pr, and Pt decrease the d -band center of Pt, thereby enhancing the intrinsic activity for both the HER and MOR
Xiahou et al. (Fri,) studied this question.