Although great progress has been made in improving hydrogen production, highly efficient catalysts, which are able to produce hydrogen in a fast and steady way at ambient temperature and pressure, are still in large demand. Here, we report a [NiCo]-based hydrogenase mimic, NiCo₂O₄ nanozyme, that can catalyze robust hydrogen evolution spontaneously in water without external energy input at room temperature. This hydrogenase nanozyme facilitates water splitting reaction by forming a three-center Ni–OH–Co bond analogous to the [NiFe]-hydrogenase reaction by using aluminum as electron donor, and realizes hydrogen evolution with a high production rate of 915 L·h⁻¹ per gram of nanozymes, which is hundreds of times higher than most of the natural hydrogenase or hydrogenase mimics. Furthermore, the NiCo₂O₄ nanozyme can robustly disrupt the adhesive oxidized layer of aluminum and enable the full consumption of electrons from aluminum. In contrast to the often-expensive synthetic catalysts that rely on rare elements and consume high energy, we envision that this NiCo₂O₄ nanozyme can potentially provide an upgrade for current hydrogen evolution, accelerate the development of scale-up hydrogen production, and generate a clean energy future.

尽管在提高氢气产量方面已经取得了很大进展，但能够在环境温度和压力下快速稳定地生产氢气的高效催化剂仍然存在大量需求。在这里，我们报道了一种基于[NiCo]的氢化酶模拟物，NiCo ₂ O ₄纳米酶，它可以在室温下无需外部能量输入即可在水中自发催化强烈的析氢。这种氢化酶纳米酶通过形成三中心Ni-OH-Co键来促进水分解反应，类似于使用铝作为电子供体的[NiFe]-氢化酶反应，并以915 L·h的高产率实现析氢^-每克纳米酶^{1 个，比大多数天然氢化酶或氢化酶模拟物高数百倍。}此外，NiCo ₂ O ₄纳米酶可以强力破坏铝的粘附氧化层，并能够充分消耗铝的电子。与通常昂贵的依赖稀有元素且消耗高能量的合成催化剂相比，我们设想这种NiCo ₂ O ₄纳米酶有可能为当前的析氢提供升级，加速规模化制氢的发展，并产生清洁能源的未来。