Superior Performances of Electroless-Deposited Ni–P Films Decorated with an Ultralow Content of Pt for Water-Splitting Reactions

The design of highly efficient and low-cost electrocatalysts for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is a critical endeavor, especially in alkaline electrolytes. Herein, we report the development of ultralow-amount Pt-decorated Ni–P catalysts on nickel foam substrates (Pt/Ni–P/NF) via a facile electroless deposition of Ni–P alloys subsequently decorated with a very small amount of Pt nanoparticles through a dip-coating procedure. Benefiting from the 3D porous backbone of the NF substrate and from the synergistic effect between Ni–P and Pt, the present Pt/Ni–P/NF catalyst demonstrates superior HER activity compared to most of the state-of-the-art Pt-based electrocatalysts, with a very low overpotential (22 mV at 10 mA cm–2) and Tafel slope (30 mV dec–1) and a high turnover frequency (1.78 s–1) at η = 50 mV. Furthermore, a full alkaline electrolyzer is constructed using Pt/Ni–P/NF as the cathode and undecorated Ni–P as the anode, which can drive overall water splitting with a low potential of 1.64 V at 10 mA cm–2. This work engenders novel possibilities toward the design of advanced ultralow-content Pt electrocatalysts fulfilling both excellent HER performance and low-cost requirements

Heterobimetallic Sodium Rare-Earth Complexes: “Third-Generation” MOCVD Precursors for the Deposition of NaREF₄ (RE = Y, Gd) Films

We report the synthesis of novel heterobimetallic precursors of the formula [RE­(hfa)4]−[Na·tetraglyme]+ [RE = Y, Gd; Hhfa = 1,1,1,5,5,5-hexafluoro-2,4-pentanedione; tetraglyme = 2,5,8,11,14-pentaoxapentadecane], which can be efficiently used as a single source for the metal–organic chemical vapor deposition of NaREF4 films