Synergy Between Ru₃ Nanoclusters and Pt Nanoparticles for High-Efficiency Alkaline Hydrogen Evolution Reaction

To achieve efficient alkaline hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), catalysts should be rationally designed with optimized water adsorption energy, low H-OH dissociation energy barrier, and appropriate hydrogen bond energy (HBE). However, simultaneously satisfying these requirements remains a major challenge for single-component catalysts. Here, we report a dual-site synergistic catalyst composed of atomically precise Ru₃ nanoclusters and Pt nanoparticles (Ru₃@Pt NPs/C). Characterization results reveal Ru₃ nanoclusters are distributed around Pt nanoparticles. Compared with single-component catalyst, Ru₃@Pt NPs/C exhibits superior catalytic activity, achieving a current density of 10 mA cm⁻² at an ultra-low overpotential of only 10 mV, and the mass activity reached 0.488 A mg⁻¹_PGM, which was 1.85 times that of commercial Pt/C (0.264 A mg⁻¹_PGM). Furthermore, Ru₃@Pt NPs/C exhibits a low cell voltage of 1.75 V at 1 A cm⁻² in the anion exchange membrane electrolyzer. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations reveal its superior performance stems from a relay catalytic mechanism: water molecules are preferentially adsorbed and dissociated at Ru site, while the generated *H rapidly migrate to neighboring Pt sites, where they efficiently recombine to form H₂. This study proposes an innovative dual-component catalytic architecture that integrates triatomic clusters with nanoparticles, providing new perspectives for atomic-scale design of advanced catalysts.