How the Arrangement of Platinum Atoms on Ruthenium Nanoparticles Improves Hydrogen Evolution Activity

Qinyu Li; Soshan Cheong; Agus R. Poerwoprajitno; Shuting Xiang; Anatoly I. Frenkel; Yuwei Yang; Nicholas M. Bedford; Sohaib Umer; Martina Lessio; Ichiro Ohnishi; Zeno R. Ramadhan; Dale L. Huber; Liming Dai; Wolfgang Schuhmann; J. Justin Gooding; Richard D. Tilley

doi:10.1002/adma.202509610

How the Arrangement of Platinum Atoms on Ruthenium Nanoparticles Improves Hydrogen Evolution Activity

Qinyu Li
, Soshan Cheong
, Agus R. Poerwoprajitno
, Shuting Xiang
, Anatoly I. Frenkel
, Yuwei Yang
, Nicholas M. Bedford
, Sohaib Umer
, Martina Lessio
, Ichiro Ohnishi
, Zeno R. Ramadhan
, Dale L. Huber
, Liming Dai
, Wolfgang Schuhmann
, J. Justin Gooding
, Richard D. Tilley

Materials Science and Engineering

University of New South Wales
United States Department of Energy
Stony Brook University
JEOL Ltd.
Ruhr University Bochum

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

6 Scopus citations

Abstract

The platinum-ruthenium (PtRu) system is highly active for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) in alkaline media with both Pt and Ru playing active roles in the water dissociation step that generates adsorbed hydrogen atoms. Precise control of the arrangement of Pt atoms on Ru nanoparticles can maximize the Pt-Ru sites for water dissociation and Pt-Pt sites for hydrogen production and can considerably improve HER catalytic performance. By directing the growth and distribution of Pt on Ru hourglass nanoparticles, the arrangement of Pt on Ru is controlled into forming Pt islands, small Pt clusters, and strings of a few Pt atoms. Calculations show that the unique atomic string arrangements of Pt on Ru is the thermodynamically favorable configuration. Additionally, these strings have a favorable combination of Pt-Ru and Pt-Pt sites, making the Pt-string on Ru the most active catalyst with a more than fivefold increase in turnover frequency for alkaline HER compared to the Pt-island on Ru catalyst. The results show how controlling the Pt atomic arrangement on Ru nanoparticle surfaces for the tuning of Pt-Pt and Pt-Ru neighboring sites can direct toward a more efficient HER mechanism and thereby significantly enhancing HER performance.

Original language	English
Article number	e09610
Journal	Advanced Materials
Volume	37
Issue number	41
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.202509610
State	Published - Oct 16 2025

Keywords

atomic clusters
bimetallic synergy
co-catalysis
hydrogen evolution reaction
platinum-ruthenium

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10.1002/adma.202509610

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Li, Q., Cheong, S., Poerwoprajitno, A. R., Xiang, S., Frenkel, A. I., Yang, Y., Bedford, N. M., Umer, S., Lessio, M., Ohnishi, I., Ramadhan, Z. R., Huber, D. L., Dai, L., Schuhmann, W., Gooding, J. J., & Tilley, R. D. (2025). How the Arrangement of Platinum Atoms on Ruthenium Nanoparticles Improves Hydrogen Evolution Activity. Advanced Materials, 37(41), Article e09610. https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.202509610

@article{4d721eebd9b04ef6879250f6fc7e8f94,

title = "How the Arrangement of Platinum Atoms on Ruthenium Nanoparticles Improves Hydrogen Evolution Activity",

abstract = "The platinum-ruthenium (PtRu) system is highly active for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) in alkaline media with both Pt and Ru playing active roles in the water dissociation step that generates adsorbed hydrogen atoms. Precise control of the arrangement of Pt atoms on Ru nanoparticles can maximize the Pt-Ru sites for water dissociation and Pt-Pt sites for hydrogen production and can considerably improve HER catalytic performance. By directing the growth and distribution of Pt on Ru hourglass nanoparticles, the arrangement of Pt on Ru is controlled into forming Pt islands, small Pt clusters, and strings of a few Pt atoms. Calculations show that the unique atomic string arrangements of Pt on Ru is the thermodynamically favorable configuration. Additionally, these strings have a favorable combination of Pt-Ru and Pt-Pt sites, making the Pt-string on Ru the most active catalyst with a more than fivefold increase in turnover frequency for alkaline HER compared to the Pt-island on Ru catalyst. The results show how controlling the Pt atomic arrangement on Ru nanoparticle surfaces for the tuning of Pt-Pt and Pt-Ru neighboring sites can direct toward a more efficient HER mechanism and thereby significantly enhancing HER performance.",

keywords = "atomic clusters, bimetallic synergy, co-catalysis, hydrogen evolution reaction, platinum-ruthenium",

author = "Qinyu Li and Soshan Cheong and Poerwoprajitno, \{Agus R.\} and Shuting Xiang and Frenkel, \{Anatoly I.\} and Yuwei Yang and Bedford, \{Nicholas M.\} and Sohaib Umer and Martina Lessio and Ichiro Ohnishi and Ramadhan, \{Zeno R.\} and Huber, \{Dale L.\} and Liming Dai and Wolfgang Schuhmann and Gooding, \{J. Justin\} and Tilley, \{Richard D.\}",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2025 The Author(s). Advanced Materials published by Wiley-VCH GmbH.",

year = "2025",

month = oct,

day = "16",

doi = "10.1002/adma.202509610",

language = "English",

volume = "37",

journal = "Advanced Materials",

issn = "0935-9648",

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Li, Q, Cheong, S, Poerwoprajitno, AR, Xiang, S, Frenkel, AI, Yang, Y, Bedford, NM, Umer, S, Lessio, M, Ohnishi, I, Ramadhan, ZR, Huber, DL, Dai, L, Schuhmann, W, Gooding, JJ & Tilley, RD 2025, 'How the Arrangement of Platinum Atoms on Ruthenium Nanoparticles Improves Hydrogen Evolution Activity', Advanced Materials, vol. 37, no. 41, e09610. https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.202509610

TY - JOUR

T1 - How the Arrangement of Platinum Atoms on Ruthenium Nanoparticles Improves Hydrogen Evolution Activity

AU - Li, Qinyu

AU - Cheong, Soshan

AU - Poerwoprajitno, Agus R.

AU - Xiang, Shuting

AU - Frenkel, Anatoly I.

AU - Yang, Yuwei

AU - Bedford, Nicholas M.

AU - Umer, Sohaib

AU - Lessio, Martina

AU - Ohnishi, Ichiro

AU - Ramadhan, Zeno R.

AU - Huber, Dale L.

AU - Dai, Liming

AU - Schuhmann, Wolfgang

AU - Gooding, J. Justin

AU - Tilley, Richard D.

PY - 2025/10/16

Y1 - 2025/10/16

N2 - The platinum-ruthenium (PtRu) system is highly active for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) in alkaline media with both Pt and Ru playing active roles in the water dissociation step that generates adsorbed hydrogen atoms. Precise control of the arrangement of Pt atoms on Ru nanoparticles can maximize the Pt-Ru sites for water dissociation and Pt-Pt sites for hydrogen production and can considerably improve HER catalytic performance. By directing the growth and distribution of Pt on Ru hourglass nanoparticles, the arrangement of Pt on Ru is controlled into forming Pt islands, small Pt clusters, and strings of a few Pt atoms. Calculations show that the unique atomic string arrangements of Pt on Ru is the thermodynamically favorable configuration. Additionally, these strings have a favorable combination of Pt-Ru and Pt-Pt sites, making the Pt-string on Ru the most active catalyst with a more than fivefold increase in turnover frequency for alkaline HER compared to the Pt-island on Ru catalyst. The results show how controlling the Pt atomic arrangement on Ru nanoparticle surfaces for the tuning of Pt-Pt and Pt-Ru neighboring sites can direct toward a more efficient HER mechanism and thereby significantly enhancing HER performance.

AB - The platinum-ruthenium (PtRu) system is highly active for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) in alkaline media with both Pt and Ru playing active roles in the water dissociation step that generates adsorbed hydrogen atoms. Precise control of the arrangement of Pt atoms on Ru nanoparticles can maximize the Pt-Ru sites for water dissociation and Pt-Pt sites for hydrogen production and can considerably improve HER catalytic performance. By directing the growth and distribution of Pt on Ru hourglass nanoparticles, the arrangement of Pt on Ru is controlled into forming Pt islands, small Pt clusters, and strings of a few Pt atoms. Calculations show that the unique atomic string arrangements of Pt on Ru is the thermodynamically favorable configuration. Additionally, these strings have a favorable combination of Pt-Ru and Pt-Pt sites, making the Pt-string on Ru the most active catalyst with a more than fivefold increase in turnover frequency for alkaline HER compared to the Pt-island on Ru catalyst. The results show how controlling the Pt atomic arrangement on Ru nanoparticle surfaces for the tuning of Pt-Pt and Pt-Ru neighboring sites can direct toward a more efficient HER mechanism and thereby significantly enhancing HER performance.

KW - atomic clusters

KW - bimetallic synergy

KW - co-catalysis

KW - hydrogen evolution reaction

KW - platinum-ruthenium

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105011350376

U2 - 10.1002/adma.202509610

DO - 10.1002/adma.202509610

M3 - Article

C2 - 40693347

AN - SCOPUS:105011350376

SN - 0935-9648

VL - 37

JO - Advanced Materials

JF - Advanced Materials

IS - 41

M1 - e09610

ER -

How the Arrangement of Platinum Atoms on Ruthenium Nanoparticles Improves Hydrogen Evolution Activity

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Keywords

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