An Interstitial Boron Inserted Metastable Hexagonal Rh Nanocrystal for Efficient Hydrogen Oxidation Electrocatalysis.

Constructing metastable phase structure plays an important role in changing the physicochemical properties and improving the catalytic performance of nanocrystals. Unfortunately, the synthesis of metastable phase metallic nanocrystals is highly challenging, mainly due to the thermodynamically unstable ground-state. Here, we report a synthesis of unconventional metastable hexagonal rhodium nanocrystal (B-Rh/C) via interstitial boron insertion. The insertion of boron atoms into the interstitial sites of cubic Rh lattice not only induces the atomic arrangements from face-centered cubic (fcc) to hexagonal close-packed (hcp), but also stabilizes the metastable hexagonal Rh structure. Benefiting from the phase transition and interstitial boron doping, the B-Rh/C catalyst exhibits remarkable catalytic performance toward hydrogen oxidation reaction (HOR) under alkaline media, with a mass activity of 1.413 mA μg . Experimental measurements including in situ surface-enhanced infrared absorption spectroscopy (SEIRAS) and density functional theory (DFT) calculations indicate that the strengthened adsorption of hydroxyl species on the electrode surface of B-Rh/C is responsible for the reconstruction of interfacial water structure and increased water proportions in the gap region in the electric double layers. As a result, the increased water connectivity and hydrogen bond network facilitate high-efficiency hydrogen transfer across the interface, thereby boost the alkaline HOR performance.