Nb₂AlC MAX Nanosheets Supported Ru Nanocrystals as Efficient Catalysts for Boosting pH‐Universal Hydrogen Production

Abstract

MAX phase combines both ceramic and metallic properties, which exhibits widespread application prospects. 2D MAX nanosheets have more abundant surface‐active sites, being anticipated to improve the performance of surface‐related applications. Herein, for the first time, 2D Nb₂AlC nanosheets (NSs) as novel supports anchored with Ru catalysts for overall water splitting are developed. The optimized catalyst of Ru@Nb₂AlC NSs exhibit Pt‐comparable kinetics and superior catalytic activity toward hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) (low overpotentials of 61 and 169 mV at 10 and 100 mA cm⁻², respectively) with excellent durability (5000 cycles or 80 h) in alkaline media. In particular, Ru@Nb₂AlC NSs achieve a mass activity of ≈4.8 times larger than the commercial Pt/C (20 wt.%) catalyst. The post‐oxidation resultant catalyst of RuO₂@Nb₂AlC NSs also exhibit boosting HER and oxygen evolution reaction activities and ≈100% Faraday efficiency for overall water splitting with a cell voltage of 1.61 V to achieve 10 mA cm⁻². Therefore, the novel category of 2D MAX supports anchored with Ru nanocrystals offers a novel strategy for designing a wide range of MAX‐supported metal catalysts for the renewable energy field.