Surface Reconstruction Unlocks Durable, Low-Cost Catalysts for Hydrogen Production

[frankerkanol]

The hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) holds immense promise for producing clean hydrogen fuel, offering a potential solution to the climate change crisis. However, scaling HER from a laboratory process to large-scale commercial production while keeping costs manageable remains a major challenge.

Researchers at Tohoku University have made significant progress toward this goal by demonstrating that surface reconstruction can create durable, non-noble metal-based cathodes that accelerate the HER process. These new cathodes maintain high performance for over 300 hours and are estimated to approach the U.S. Department of Energy’s 2026 hydrogen production cost target of $2.00 per kilogram.

Their findings, published in Advanced Energy Materials, offer a path toward the rational design of efficient, cost-effective non-noble metal catalysts for commercial proton exchange membrane (PEM) applications, moving the technology closer to industrial-scale deployment.

The team focused on transition metal phosphides (TMPs), which have shown promise as durable and affordable HER catalysts. While noble metals like platinum are typically used to catalyze HER, TMPs offer a non-noble alternative with high potential, though research in this area has lagged behind.

To address this, the team modified cobalt phosphide (CoP) with fluorine, creating F-modified CoP and studying its behavior using operando X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) and Raman spectroscopy. The introduction of fluorine promoted the formation of phosphorus vacancies at the surface, creating more active sites that significantly boosted HER efficiency.

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"This reconstructed cobalt surface shows high catalytic activity, operates in acidic conditions, and sustains around 76 watts for over 300 hours," said Heng Liu of the Advanced Institute for Materials Research (WPI-AIMR) at Tohoku University. "We are getting closer to an affordable hydrogen production method, with costs calculated at $2.17 per kilogram—just 17 cents over the current DOE target."

Importantly, the team extended their findings beyond lab-scale tests by evaluating the F-modified CoP cathode in commercial-scale PEM electrolyzers, showing that the approach is viable for real-world applications.

This breakthrough highlights the potential for surface reconstruction strategies to enhance HER performance in non-noble metal catalysts, offering a blueprint for designing new materials that are both efficient and economically viable.

"Our focus has always been on bridging the gap between research and everyday applications," said Liu. "This advancement brings us significantly closer to realizing practical, scalable hydrogen production for a sustainable future."