Dirac Nodal Arc Semimetal PtSn4 : An Ideal Platform for Understanding Surface Properties and Catalysis for Hydrogen Evolution

Guowei Li; Chenguang Fu; Wujun Shi; Lin Jiao; Jiquan Wu; Qun Yang; Rana Saha; Machteld E Kamminga; Abhay K Srivastava; Enke Liu; Aliza N Yazdani; Nitesh Kumar; Jian Zhang; Graeme R Blake; Xianjie Liu; Mats Fahlman; Steffen Wirth; Gudrun Auffermann; Johannes Gooth; Stuart Parkin; Vidya Madhavan; Xinliang Feng; Yan Sun; Claudia Felser

doi:10.1002/anie.201906109

Dirac Nodal Arc Semimetal PtSn₄ : An Ideal Platform for Understanding Surface Properties and Catalysis for Hydrogen Evolution

Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2019 Sep 9;58(37):13107-13112. doi: 10.1002/anie.201906109. Epub 2019 Aug 13.

Authors

Guowei Li¹, Chenguang Fu¹, Wujun Shi², Lin Jiao¹, Jiquan Wu³, Qun Yang¹, Rana Saha⁴, Machteld E Kamminga⁵, Abhay K Srivastava⁴, Enke Liu¹, Aliza N Yazdani⁶, Nitesh Kumar¹, Jian Zhang⁷, Graeme R Blake⁵, Xianjie Liu³, Mats Fahlman³, Steffen Wirth¹, Gudrun Auffermann¹, Johannes Gooth¹, Stuart Parkin⁴, Vidya Madhavan⁸, Xinliang Feng⁷, Yan Sun¹, Claudia Felser¹

Affiliations

¹ Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids, 01187, Dresden, Germany.
² School of Physical Science and Technology, ShanghaiTech University, 201203, Shanghai, China.
³ Department of Physics, Chemistry and Biology (IFM), Linköping University, 58183, Linköping, Sweden.
⁴ Max Planck Institute for Microstructure Physics, 06120, Halle, Germany.
⁵ Zernike Institute for Advanced Materials, University of Groningen, 9747, AG, Groningen, The Netherlands.
⁶ Department of Chemistry, Carleton College, MN, 55057, Northfield, USA.
⁷ Department of Chemistry and Food Chemistry, Technische Universität Dresden, 01062, Dresden, Germany.
⁸ Department of Physics and Frederick Seitz Materials Research Laboratory, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois, 61801, USA.

Abstract

Conductivity, carrier mobility, and a suitable Gibbs free energy are important criteria that determine the performance of catalysts for a hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). However, it is a challenge to combine these factors into a single compound. Herein, we discover a superior electrocatalyst for a HER in the recently identified Dirac nodal arc semimetal PtSn₄ . The determined turnover frequency (TOF) for each active site of PtSn₄ is 1.54 H₂ s^-1 at 100 mV. This sets a benchmark for HER catalysis on Pt-based noble metals and earth-abundant metal catalysts. We make use of the robust surface states of PtSn₄ as their electrons can be transferred to the adsorbed hydrogen atoms in the catalytic process more efficiently. In addition, PtSn₄ displays excellent chemical and electrochemical stabilities after long-term exposure in air and long-time HER stability tests.

Keywords: Dirac semimetal; PtSn4; electrocatalysis; hydrogen evolution reaction; surface states.

Publication types

Review

Abstract

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