W Deposited PdGa Catalyst with Tailored Hydrogen Adsorption and Reduction

Microsc. Microanal. 29, 1360 (2023)https://ireap.umd.edu/10.1093/micmic/ozad067.6972023Journal ArticleAdvanced Materials and Nanotechnology

The manipulation of adsorption behaviors of transition metals (TMs) is the key point to design the high-performance hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) catalysts. Topological chiral semimetals with super-long Fermi arc surface states provide an ideal platform for engineering the catalytic performance of TMs through the metal-support interaction. Our research results show that the adsorption trends of TMs can be modified significantly when being deposited at the surface of the PdGa chiral crystal. The electron transfer from the TMs to PdGa surface states reshapes the d band structure of the TMs and weakens the hydrogen intermediate bonding. W/PdGa is a good HER catalyst with close to zero Gibbs free energy. The experimental results revealed a Pt-like exchange current density and turnover frequency when depositing W atoms on the surface of PdGa nanostructures. The findings provide a way to develop high-efficient electrocatalysts by the interplay between topological surface states and metal-support interaction.