Operando Spectroscopy Observation of Mo Clusters-Ti₃C₂T_X Catalyst/Support Interface's Dynamic Evolution in Hydrogen Evolution Reaction

The interaction between catalyst and support plays an important role in electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution (HER), which may explain the improvement in performance by phase transition or structural remodeling. However, the intrinsic behavior of these catalysts (dynamic evolution of the interface under bias, structural/morphological transformation, stability) has not been clearly monitored, while the operando technology does well in capturing the dynamic changes in the reaction process in real time to determine the actual active site. In this paper, nitrogen-doped molybdenum atom-clusters on Ti₃C₂T_X (Mo_ACs/N-Ti₃C₂T_X) is used as a model catalyst to reveal the dynamic evolution of Mo_Acs on Ti₃C₂T_X during the HER process. Operando X-ray absorption structure (XAS) theoretical calculation and in situ Raman spectroscopy showed that the Mo cluster structure evolves to a 6-coordinated monatomic Mo structure under working conditions, exposing more active sites and thus improving the catalytic performance. It shows excellent HER performance comparable to that of commercial Pt/C, including an overpotential of 60 mV at 10 mA cm⁻², a small Tafel slope (56 mV dec⁻¹), and high activity and durability. This study provides a unique perspective for investigating the evolution of species, interfacial migration mechanisms, and sources of activity-enhancing compounds in the process of electroreduction.