In Situ Explosion Induced “Stress + Defect” Structure for Enhanced Hydrogen Evolution Reaction

Abstract

ABSTRACT The rational integration of lattice strain and carrier defect offers strategy to adjust the electronic structure of heterogeneous catalysts, yet remains synthetically difficult. We present an explosive‐driven approach to construct Pt nanoparticle–decorated UiO‐66 (Pt NP /UiO‐66) catalysts with tunable tensile lattice strain and defect‐engineered metal–MOF interfaces. By precisely controlling the explosive dosage, Pt nanoparticle with different degrees(0.229 nm) of lattice strain are generated in situ and anchored onto defect‐rich UiO‐66, leading to the formation of interfacial Schottky junctions. The acidic HER is selected as a representative model system to elucidate the correlation between structure and catalytic activity. Among the obtained catalysts, Pt NP‐10 /UiO‐66, possessing the highest lattice tensile strain, delivers an overpotential of 16 mV. In situ x‐ray absorption fine structure (XAFS) measurements reveal the continuous variation of the local coordination structure of Pt throughout the HER process. Complementary spectroscopic characterizations combined with density functional theory (DFT) calculations further show that explosive‐induced lattice strain systematically modulates the adsorption strength of the H* intermediate.