Heterostructure WC/Ni/Cu nanorod array towards ultra-long hydrogen evolution durability at room temperature and industrial conditions

The creation of catalysts with rational structures is impressive for the achievement of highly efficient H₂ production. Nevertheless, the design of electrocatalysts with high reaction activity and long-term durability presents a significant challenge. This study details the fabrication of a unique multilayer tandem catalyst, constructed with an amorphous-crystalline (A-C) heterostructure A-C-WC/Ni/Cu submicron rod array, which was supported on copper foam through a low-cost in-situ growth/electrodeposition/magnetron sputtering approach. The hierarchical A-C-WC/Ni/Cu demonstrates a low overpotential of 105 mV for the hydrogen evolution at a current density of 100 mA cm⁻², and it even endures for over 10,000 h at an industrial current density of 500 mA cm⁻² in a 1 M KOH solution. This indicates a significant potential in an anion exchange membrane (AEM) electrolyzer. Theoretical calculations confirm the optimized adsorption energies and fast water-splitting kinetics. Additionally, the cell that was assembled with NiCoS_x-0.4 yielded low cell voltages of 1.563 and 1.595 V while achieving high current densities of 1000 and 2000 mA cm⁻² under industrial conditions (6 M KOH, 65 °C). The engineering of multiple heterostructure strategies presents a promising route towards the large-scale generation of hydrogen.