Lattice-distorted Pt wrinkled nanoparticles for highly effective hydrogen electrocatalysis

Modulating Pt surfaces through the introduction of lattice distortion emerges as immensely effective strategy that enhances the kinetics of alkaline hydrogen evolution and oxidation processes. In this study, we fabricated lattice-distorted Pt wrinkled nanoparticles (LD-Pt WNPs) for efficient hydrogen electrocatalysis. The LD-Pt WNPs not only outperform the Pt/C benchmark in hydrogen oxidation reaction, achieving an excellent mass-specific current of 968.5 mA·mgPt−1 (9 times that of Pt/C), but also demonstrate outstanding hydrogen evolution reaction activity with a small overpotential of 58.0 mV. Comprehensive experiments and density functional theory calculations reveal that lattice defects introduce an abundance of unsaturated coordination atoms while modifying the d-band center of Pt. This dual effect optimizes the binding strength of crucial H and OH intermediates, leading to a significant reduction in the energy barrier of the reaction bottleneck, commonly known as the Volmer step. This work unveils a fresh viewpoint on projecting and developing high efficiency electrocatalysts through defect engineering.