Single‐Layer Platinum Cluster Catalyst for Efficient Hydrogen Electro‐Production

Abstract The resource scarcity and high cost seriously hamper the large‐scale application of platinum to catalyze the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). An extraordinarily efficient single‐layer Pt (SL‐Pt) cluster catalyst is synthesized by a facile photolysis‐electroreduction method. Electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy images demonstrate the single‐layer structure with a thickness of ≈0.3 nm. Density functional theory calculations reveal that the charge is redistributed in the SL‐Pt cluster, which yields a downshift in d‐band center of Pt 5d orbital. The above two features of the SL‐Pt cluster yield a high atomic utilization and superior intrinsic activity when used as the electrocatalyst. As a result, the electrochemical test reveals its mass activity of the HER is two orders of magnitude higher than the commerical Johnson–Matthey 20 wt.% Pt/C. As demonstration, the SL‐Pt cluster exhibits a low electrolysis voltage of ≈1.74 V at 1.0 A cm−2 with superior stability up to 48 h in a single‐cell proton exchange membrane water electrolyzer. This study does not only provide a facile method to prepare single‐layer metal cluster, but also provides a stable HER's catalyst for efficient water splitting.