Economically viable catalysts with high activity and stability are highly demanded for water electrolysis. Herein, we choose low-cost copper and iron as the raw materials, and mechanically mix them into at the subnanometric scale to obtain a self-supporting electrode. The interaction of copper and iron optimizes the d-band center and adsorptive capability of the catalyst, thus significantly improving the catalytic properties of hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). The CuFe catalyst achieves ultralow overpotentials of 67 mV at 10 mA cm−2 and 687 mV at 1000 mA cm−2. As well, the catalyst presents excellent stability, with only a 3.03 % drop in the initial current density after 1000 h of operation at 1 A cm−2. Compared to nickel-based catalysts, the CuFe catalyst proves to be superior in terms of catalytic activity, stability, and price, showing great potential on industrial applications.

中文翻译：

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亚纳米级铜和铁的机械混合，用于催化析氢反应


水电解非常需要具有高活性和稳定性的经济可行的催化剂。在此，我们选择低成本的铜和铁作为原材料，并在亚纳米尺度上将它们机械混合成，以获得自支撑电极。铜和铁的相互作用优化了催化剂的 d 带中心和吸附能力，从而显着改善了析氢反应 （HER） 的催化性能。CuFe 催化剂在 10 mA cm-2 时实现了 67 mV 的超低过电位，在 1000 mA cm-2 时达到 687 mV。此外，该催化剂还具有出色的稳定性，在 1 A cm-2 下运行 1000 小时后，初始电流密度仅下降了 3.03%。与镍基催化剂相比，CuFe 催化剂在催化活性、稳定性和价格方面被证明具有优越性，在工业应用中显示出巨大的潜力。