Single-atom (SA) decoration of 1D semimetallic titania nanostructures (STN): a conductive electrode for electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution (HER)

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Hydrogen (H2) is the most promising future form of renewable clean energy source. Currently, industrial H2 production is based on reforming natural gas, which uses a high amount of non-renewable energy while producing carbon dioxide. A sustainable and environmentally friendly H2 production approach is electrochemical water splitting. Therefore, enhancing the efficiency and improving the economic aspects of electrochemical water splitting is a primary goal of research worldwide. The presence of a catalyst to minimize the overpotential required for the H2 evolution reaction (HER) is essential to enhance the efficiency of water splitting. Platinum is the most well-known catalyst for HER, mainly due to the fact that it requires very small overpotentials. However, the high cost and scarcity of Pt restrict its prevalent technological use. By designing new catalyst materials for the HER, researchers aim to expand their understanding of the properties and surface structures that govern HER stability and activity. The present research proposal aims at creating a novel and highly defined platform for electrocatalytic hydrogen generation using Single-Atom (SA) decorated Semimetallic Titania-based Nanocavities (STN) as a non-expensive and highly efficient electrode for HER with boosted activity and long-term stability. The key novelty of the proposed approach is the combination of defect-engineered titania-based semimetallic nanostructures with the advanced single-atom decoration strategy to fabricate a platform to be employed as an HER electrode in the green H2 production industry. It is expected that the synergistic effect of three golden features, i.e., i) directional charge transfer in a one-dimensional back contacted (1D) structure, ii) single atom decoration, and iii) surface-exposed Ti3+ centers in an SA-STN assembly, will lead to a boosted HER activity. As a proof of concept, in the last work package of the project, we aim to implant the optimized HER electrode in a commercial polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) electrolyzer, which will provide benchmark information regarding the long-term activity and stability of the electrode in a standard and onsite measurement conditions.