Asymmetric Enhancement of Hydrogen and Oxygen Evolution Reactions in a Bifunctional Fe <sub>0.5</sub> Rh <sub>0.5</sub> Catalyst by Applying a Magnetic Field
(FeRh) single-crystal thin-film catalyst and demonstrate distinct asymmetric activity improvement under a 13 kOe magnetic field, ∼40% enhancement for HER and ∼32% for OER. Density functional theory and spin-resolved electronic structure analysis reveal that the field raises spin polarization by 1.2%, enhances density of states near the Fermi level, and accelerates interfacial charge transfer. The asymmetric enhancement stems from a more significant Gibbs free energy reduction for H adsorption than for OH**. Moreover, FeRh follows the oxide pathway mechanism to avoid excessive surface oxyhydroxide passivation, ensuring a stable magneto-responsive catalysis. This work clarifies the fundamental mechanism of asymmetric magnetic field promotion and provides a rational design for magnetically enhanced bifunctional electrocatalysts.
Authors
- Zhengjia Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7374-5116)
- Weiming Lü
- Ji Qi
- Daming Yang
- Linglong Hu
- Hang Xu
- Ming Feng
Institutions
- Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China (CN)
- Jilin Normal University (CN)
- Harbin Institute of Technology (CN)
- Shanghai Optical Instrument Research Institute (CN)
- Dalian Maritime University (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces
- Published
- 2026-05-01
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.6c00581
- Primary Topic
- Electrocatalysts for Energy Conversion
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- Education Department of Jilin Province
- Department of Science and Technology of Jilin Province