One-step approach for constructing synergistic effect-based high-performance bifunctional catalysts toward green hydrogen production

The simplification of the process of electrolytic water catalyst preparation and the exploitation of highly active catalysts represent a meaningful but challenging task. Meanwhile, bifunctional electrolytic water catalysts are of great significance in improving electrolysis efficiency and simplifying catalyst preparation processes. In this study, we introduce Ru and V into CoTe, which exhibits intrinsic oxygenophilic properties, and couple it with hydrophilic and well-conducting MXene to overcome the sluggish alkaline kinetics of hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER). The synthesized Ru,V co-doped CoTe@MXene (RVCTM) catalysts exhibited HER overpotentials of 34 and 116 mV and OER overpotentials of 249 and 320 mV at 10 and 100 mA cm⁻² current densities, respectively. Moreover, the catalysts demonstrated remarkable stability. Theoretical calculations demonstrated that the incorporation of Ru and V had a profound impact on the local electronic environments of Co and Te. In addition, the coupling with MXene resulted in charge redistribution at the heterogeneous interface. The combined effect of doping and heterostructure construction effectively optimizes the d-band center of the catalyst and reduces the adsorption energy barrier of reaction intermediates. This approach offers deep insights into the development of multifunctional catalysts.