Robust Ti─N Interface in MXene‐C <sub>2</sub> N Heterostructures for Ultra‐Durable Acidic Hydrogen Evolution
ABSTRACT Durable, cost‐effective hydrogen evolution in acidic media requires electrocatalysts that can rival platinum in catalytic activity and stability. We report atomically engineered Ti 3 C 2 T x @C 2 N heterostructure exploiting robust Ti–N interfacial bonding and electronic coupling to deliver platinum‐like performance without noble metals. The hybrid catalyst exhibits ultralow overpotential of 42 mV at 10 mA cm −2 and Tafel slope of 36 mV dec −1 , approaching commercial Pt/C benchmarks. More importantly, it maintains stable operation over 550 h at 100 mA cm −2 in corrosive acidic medium, far surpassing Pt/C. Structural analyses and density functional theory reveal that Ti─N interface optimizes hydrogen adsorption free energy and lowers the kinetic barrier for O─H bond cleavage, while the porous C 2 N scaffold enhances charge transport and active site accessibility. This synergistic structural and electronic design establishes a generalizable strategy for robust heterostructures, advancing scalable platinum‐free electrocatalysts for next‐generation proton exchange membrane electrolyzers and other energy conversion technologies.
Authors
- Jayaraman Balamurugan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3505-5522)
- Pilnam Kim (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5592-4599)
- Manmatha Mahato (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8078-5949)
- Sujin Cha (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5002-3636)
- Geetha Valurouthu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7241-665X)
- Hyunjoon Yoo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0007-4166-374X)
- Habib Ullah (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9411-5700)
- Mousumi Garai (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0807-4402)
- Jawon Ha (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0007-7414-1200)
- Il‐Kwon Oh
- Yury Gogotsi
- Akash Deo
- Zakir Ullah
Institutions
- Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KR)
- University of Exeter (GB)
- Creative Research (GB)
- Institut de Ciència de Materials de Barcelona (ES)
- Drexel University (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Advanced Functional Materials
- Published
- 2026-02-12
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1002/adfm.202530090
- Primary Topic
- Electrocatalysts for Energy Conversion
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- National Research Foundation
- National Research Foundation of Korea
- Ministry of Science and ICT, South Korea