电解水制氢是新能源领域重要的关键技术，目前瓶颈是开发高效廉价且稳定的双功能电解水催化剂。本项目以解决稀土过渡金属纳米团簇的可控制备、实现磁场调控催化剂活性以及揭示稀土f电子与催化活性间的内在机制为研究主题。首先，采用团簇束流沉积系统制备了轻稀土RE与铁、钴、镍、铱M合金REMx和超薄核壳结构SmFex@M纳米团簇，研究其作为双功能电解水催化剂的催化活性及稳定性；其次，通过外加磁场诱导稀土合金及核壳结构磁致伸缩产生晶格应变，实现团簇催化活性的外场调控；最后，原位XAFS光谱结合DFT计算研究团簇的原子局域结构和f-d间接交换作用对催化活性中心电子结构的影响，阐明稀土内层f电子与催化活性的关系，揭示磁场-晶格应变-催化活性间的内在关联。研究成果将加深稀土f电子和晶格应变调控催化活性的本质理解，为外场调控催化活性提供了新的普适策略，制备出稳定高效廉价催化剂将促进我国轻稀土资源的平衡高值化利用。

Producing hydrogen by water electrolysis is an important key technology in the field of new energy. The current bottleneck is the development of a highly efficient, inexpensive and stable bifunctional electrocatalysts for water splitting. This project is aimed to solve the controllable preparation of rare earth transition metal nanoclusters, realize the magnetic field control catalyst activity and reveal the intrinsic mechanism between rare earth f electrons and catalytic activity. In this project, the light rare-earth (RE) transition metal (Fe, Co, Ni, Ir) nanoclusters REMx and the ultrathin core-shell structure SmFex@M with different atomic layer thicknesses are prepared by cluster beam deposition system. The catalytic activity and stability of the catalyst are studied as bifunctional electrocatalysts for water splitting; Secondly, the magnetostriction of rare earth alloy and core-shell structure induced by external magnetic field produces lattice strain, and then its catalytic performance is tuned. Finally, in-situ XAFS spectra combined with DFT calculation study on the influence of the atomic local structure and f-d indirect exchange interaction of nanocluster on the electronic structure of the catalytic active center. The results clarify the relationship between the rare earth inner f-electron and catalytic activity and reveal the intrinsic correlation between magnetic field-lattice strain-catalytic activity. The research results will deepen the understanding of the essential properties of rare earth f-electron and lattice strain-regulated catalytic activity, and provide a new universal strategy for external field regulation of catalytic activity. At the same time, the prepared stable and efficient low-cost catalyst finally promotes the balance and high value utilization of light rare-earth resources in China.