AgNi Alloy Nanoparticles as Dual‐Function Catalysts for Sustainable Nitrile Hydration and Electrocatalytic Hydrogen Generation

Abstract In this work, we have developed a simple solvothermal protocol for designing spherically arranged AgNi alloy NPs with uniform sizes and tunable compositions. This as‐synthesized heterogeneous catalyst demonstrates excellent catalytic activity for nitrile hydration in water without any additives, achieving up to 99% product yield at 80 °C within just 5 h. Our as‐synthesized catalyst is magnetically separable and stable under catalytic reaction conditions. A broad variety of nitriles was efficiently transformed into their respective amides using this catalyst with high selectivity. This study introduces a sustainable and cost‐effective approach for the eco‐friendly synthesis of amides via nitrile hydration. In addition, the as‐synthesized AgNi alloy exhibited excellent hydrogen evolution activity. Ag 5 Ni 1 synthesized through precise control over the stoichiometry could attain a current density of 10 mA/cm 2 at an overpotential of 248 mV (versus RHE) which is the lowest among all the synthesized alloy samples. Ag 5 Ni 1 alloy sample could also attain an industrial scale current density of 1000 mA/cm 2 at a record low overpotential of 858 mV (versus RHE). The Tafel slopes of AgNi, Ag 1 Ni 5 , and Ag 5 Ni 1 are found to be 135.6, 96.3, and 80.7 mV dec −1 , respectively, which is comparable to benchmark commercial catalysts. Such low values of Tafel slope values supports the outstanding potential of our as‐synthesized alloy to be used as a highly efficient electrocatalyst for HER. The present work showcases the excellent catalytic efficacy of AgNi NPs as a heterogeneous catalyst in the promising field of selective organic transformations as well as electrochemical energy applications.