PtTiCe/C catalyst prepared by electrochemical dealloying for hydrogen evolution reaction

This study prepared a PtTiCe/C nanocatalyst for hydrogen production by water electrolysis through high-vacuum ion beam sputtering combined with electrochemical dealloying. Using characterization techniques such as X-ray diffraction (XRD), STEM and EDS, HRTEM, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), inductively coupled plasma (ICP), BET, cyclic voltammetry (CV), linear sweep voltammetry (LSV), [Formula: see text], and Tafel, the catalyst’s phase structure, surface morphology, active components, element valence states, and hydrogen evolution performance were comparatively analyzed. The results show that the electrochemical dealloying significantly alters the phase composition, surface morphology, element states, surface grain structure, and hydrogen evolution activity of PtTiCe/C. The catalyst’s phase changes to Pt 8 Ti, with enhanced crystallinity and refined grains down to 2–5 nm, while the surface platinum (Pt) electron cloud density increases. The Pt consumption is only 40.75 [Formula: see text]g cm[Formula: see text], with a 298% and 216% increase in SSA and electrochemical active surface area (ECSA) compared to PtTiCe/C, respectively. The η 10 and Tafel slope decrease by 36% and 20% compared to PtTiCe/C, showing excellent energy conversion efficiency and electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution activity. This provides a new approach for designing low-Pt, high-efficiency water electrolysis catalysts.