Nanoporous Palladium Cobalt Hydride for Sustainable Hydrogen Evolution Reaction

Developing highly effective and robust electrocatalysts for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is essential for green hydrogen production. However, the unsatisfied catalytic activity of electrocatalysts and corresponding high energy consumption have become bottlenecks restricting their large-scale application. Herein, nanoporous palladium-cobalt hydride (np-PdCoH) prepared by dealloying and hydrogen injection is reported as an electrocatalyst for HER. The introduction of lattice hydrogen enables the modulation of the electronic structure of the catalyst, which in turn regulates the interfacial water structure of the catalyst and facilitates water splitting for hydrogen evolution. Consequently, the np-PdCoH exhibits an overpotential of 37 mV at a current density of 10 mA cm⁻², with high catalytic stability for 480 h. The construction strategy of such hydrides is expected to provide a novel insight for the design of electrocatalysts for sustainable hydrogen production.