Randomized trial shows improved alkaline hydrogen evolution in electrocatalysts, indicating efficient energy pathways.
Synergistically accelerating water dissociation and adsorption/desorption of intermediates is essential for designing high‐performance alkaline hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) electrocatalysts. Restricted by the Brønsted‐Evans‐Polanyi principle, strong *OH binding energy can accelerate water dissociation, yet it tends to cause *OH accumulation and active‐site poisoning. Herein, we rationally fabricate Mo single atoms supported on Mo‐doped NiO (Mo‐SAs/Mo‐NiO) to synchronously boost the alkaline HER elementary steps kinetics. NiO acts as an effective water‐dissociation promoter with a low energy barrier for splitting H 2 O into *H/*OH. Moreover, Mo doping and single‐atom sites jointly construct an atomic‐scale “energy downhill” pathway that drives spontaneous *OH transfer, enabling fast *OH removal and active‐site regeneration. Furthermore, Mo single atoms optimize the *H adsorption energy to expedite *H adsorption/desorption process. As a result, Mo‐SAs/Mo‐NiO delivers an ultralow overpotential of 23 mV at 10 mA cm −2 and a Tafel slope of 36 mV dec −1 in 1.0 m KOH, along with exceptional long‐term stability over 500 h with 16 µV h −1 attenuation. This work provides a universal design strategy for activating hydroxyl spillover to regulate the elementary steps of alkaline HER.
No takes yet. Share an insight, caveat, or question.
Liu et al. (2026) studied this question.
Synapse has enriched 5 closely related papers on similar clinical questions. Consider them for comparative context: