Amorphized and Oxidized Layered PtSe 2 as an All‐in‐One Electrocatalytic Platform for Hydrazine‐Assisted Water Splitting

ABSTRACT Hydrazine‐assisted water electrolysis is a promising energy‐saving alternative to conventional water splitting; however, noble‐metal catalysts suffer severe deactivation from nitrogen‐intermediate poisoning during sustained anodic operation. Herein, amorphized and oxidized layered PtSe 2 is presented as an all‐in‐one bifunctional electrocatalytic platform solving this challenge. Plasma treatment induces simultaneous surface oxidation, amorphization, and Pt clusterization to form vertically integrated Pt–PtSe x O y heterostructures, as verified by transmission electron microscopy and x‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Density functional theory and in situ Raman spectroscopy reveal a potential‐dependent reaction network: N─H dehydrogenation dominates at low bias, while N─N cleavage becomes accessible at elevated potentials. Within this network, the amorphous PtSe x O y matrix acts as an efficient electron sink and proton‐accepting environment. By rendering Pt clusters optimally electron‐deficient, it cooperatively facilitates proton‐coupled electron transfer during N─H activation and fundamentally suppresses the accumulation of strongly bound nitrogen intermediates, resulting in enhanced intrinsic hydrazine oxidation activity with increased turnover frequencies. Simultaneously, the formation of Pt clusters within this modulated coordination environment drastically boosts the cathodic hydrogen evolution reaction beyond commercial Pt/C benchmarks. Leveraging this synergistic bifunctionality, a symmetric two‐electrode electrolyzer achieves highly energy‐efficient overall water splitting, delivering long‐term stability and demonstrating state‐of‐the‐art performance among transition metal compound‐based electrocatalysts.

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Publication Details

Journal
Advanced Materials
Published
2026-10-05
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.75207
Primary Topic
Electrocatalysts for Energy Conversion
Type
article
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article

Amorphized and Oxidized Layered PtSe 2 as an All‐in‐One Electrocatalytic Platform for Hydrazine‐Assisted Water Splitting

Seung Jin Baek, Won‐Kyu Lee, Seunghun Shin, InGyeom Kim et al.
Advanced Materials
Electrocatalysts for Energy Conversion
article

Amorphized and Oxidized Layered PtSe 2 as an All‐in‐One Electrocatalytic Platform for Hydrazine‐Assisted Water Splitting

Seung Jin Baek, Won‐Kyu Lee, Seunghun Shin, InGyeom Kim, Jaehyun Lee, Youn Jeong Jang, Jin Hyuk Cho, In Soo Kim, Minho Kim, Soo Young Kim, Min Kyung Cho, Hotae Jeon, Sun Kyung Han, Jaewon Heo, Youngha Kweon, Ji‐Hun Yim
article en

Abstract

ABSTRACT Hydrazine‐assisted water electrolysis is a promising energy‐saving alternative to conventional water splitting; however, noble‐metal catalysts suffer severe deactivation from nitrogen‐intermediate poisoning during sustained anodic operation. Herein, amorphized and oxidized layered PtSe 2 is presented as an all‐in‐one bifunctional electrocatalytic platform solving this challenge. Plasma treatment induces simultaneous surface oxidation, amorphization, and Pt clusterization to form vertically integrated Pt–PtSe x O y heterostructures, as verified by transmission electron microscopy and x‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Density functional theory and in situ Raman spectroscopy reveal a potential‐dependent reaction network: N─H dehydrogenation dominates at low bias, while N─N cleavage becomes accessible at elevated potentials. Within this network, the amorphous PtSe x O y matrix acts as an efficient electron sink and proton‐accepting environment. By rendering Pt clusters optimally electron‐deficient, it cooperatively facilitates proton‐coupled electron transfer during N─H activation and fundamentally suppresses the accumulation of strongly bound nitrogen intermediates, resulting in enhanced intrinsic hydrazine oxidation activity with increased turnover frequencies. Simultaneously, the formation of Pt clusters within this modulated coordination environment drastically boosts the cathodic hydrogen evolution reaction beyond commercial Pt/C benchmarks. Leveraging this synergistic bifunctionality, a symmetric two‐electrode electrolyzer achieves highly energy‐efficient overall water splitting, delivering long‐term stability and demonstrating state‐of‐the‐art performance among transition metal compound‐based electrocatalysts.

Advanced Materials
Argonne National Laboratory (US), Korea University (KR), Kyung Hee University (KR), Center for Nanoscale Materials, Hanyang University (KR), Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KR), Sungkyunkwan University (KR), Hongik University (KR)
Openalex Percentile: Top 33%
Electrocatalysts for Energy Conversion
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