Engineering the Coordination Environment in the Silver(I)- and Ruthenium(II)-N-Heterocyclic Carbene Complexes in Instigating the Electrocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution Reaction

The quest for cost-efficient and high-performance electrocatalysts towards electrocatalytic water splitting is a key and an interdisciplinary area of study. Considerable progress is being driven by developments in the field of energy research. In a fundamental study, we have synthesized NHC precursors (6 and 7) and corresponding metal-NHC complexes of silver(I)– (8 and 9) and ruthenium(II)- (10 and 11) of a N-heterocyclic carbene-based ligand type incorporating coumarins. These NHC precursors and metal-NHC complexes were characterized through various analytical and spectral techniques. The silver(I)–NHC complexes 8 and 9 displayed a linear coordination geometry with a center of inversion, which is evidenced by the single-crystal X-ray diffraction technique. Both the series of complexes were assessed for their efficacies in the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). The results demonstrated that attributed to its peculiar coordination geometry, high electrical conductivity the silver(I)- and ruthenium(II)-NHC complexes exhibited exemplary electrocatalytic activity. Activities of the hydrogen evolution reaction on two differently modified electrode substrates with metal-NHC complexes have been studied. To attain the benchmark HER current density of 10 mA cm–2, in 1.0 M KOH, an overpotential of −375 to −527 mV vs RHE was required for the metal-NHC complexes. Based on the analysis of the Tafel slope values, the rate-determining step was the adsorption of hydrogen as investigated in the potential window. The molecular electrocatalyst 10 presented a superior stability and maintained the electrocatalytic activity for a duration of 18 h with complex 8 and 24 h with respect to complex 10 in 1.0 M KOH. Apace with these studies, hydrogen oxidation studies were examined in 0.5 M H2SO4 by a substantial current density at the platinum ring electrode. This research offers feasible guidance for developing organometallic-based molecular electrocatalysts with good electrocatalytic performance.