Manipulating the Dynamic Proton Transport in Electrocatalysis at the Nanoscale

Proton transport plays a crucial role in many hydrogen-based technologies. However, there is limited investigation on the manipulation of proton transport at the nanoscale, especially for the highly catalytic performance in electrocatalysis. Here, we encapsulated the polyoxometalate (POM, a well-known proton carrier) into the microchannel of a single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) and selectively deposited the Pt clusters on the outside surface of the SWCNT, to establish a pseudo “proton shuttle” and achieve a fast proton transport and form a nanoscale “Pt–POM” kinetic coupling. With the enhanced proton transport, this proton nexus catalyst could accelerate the kinetic process of the probe reaction (hydrogen evolution reaction, HER) and outperform the counterparts. This strategy of manipulation of proton transport with the precise arrangement of functional sites is validated as a promising routine to obtain a highly catalytic performance in other proton-related electrocatalytic reactions.