Recently, the research team led by Prof. Jiang Jianzhong from the School of Advanced Materials and New Energy at Fuyao University of Science and Technology has published a research article entitled Lattice-Matched Ru/W₂C Heterointerfaces with Reversible Hydrogen Spillover for Efficient Alkaline Hydrogen Evolution in the prestigious international journal Advanced Energy Materials. This study investigates how lattice-matched heterointerfaces accelerate the kinetics of the alkaline hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) via the reverse hydrogen spillover effect, opening new avenues for the design and fabrication of high-performance alkaline HER electrocatalysts.

The study successfully constructs lattice-matched Ru/W₂C heterostructures for efficient alkaline HER. Both experimental and theoretical results demonstrate that Ru nanoclusters effectively stabilize W₂C, promoting the formation of phase-pure W₂C in the Ru/W₂C heterostructure. Furthermore, it is revealed that the H intermediates formed by H₂O dissociation on W₂C can rapidly migrate to adjacent Ru sites at the interface for subsequent H–H coupling and H₂ release. This is enabled by a reversible hydrogen spillover mechanism facilitated by the lattice-matched heterointerface, which weakens the adsorption energy of interfacial protons.

Consequently, the Ru/W₂C heterogeneous electrocatalyst exhibits outstanding alkaline HER performance: a low overpotential of 17 mV at 10 mA cm⁻², a high mass activity of 6.44 A mgRu⁻¹ at 100 mV overpotential, and a high turnover frequency (TOF) of 2.8 s⁻¹, significantly outperforming benchmark Ru/C and Pt/C catalysts. This work provides a new strategy for the rational design of high-efficiency electrocatalysts.

Paper link: https://doi.org/10.1002/aenm.202405546