Pt-decorated fluorine-free Ti₃C₂T_X for hydrogen evolution reaction

Carbon support in commercial Pt/C suffers severe corrosion in harsh electro-oxidation environments caused by anode potentials. Alternative support should be developed to improve the quality, activity, and durability of platinum by studying the relationship between platinum and support. Here, we prepare fluorine-free Ti₃C₂T_X (T = –OH, –O) powder via a sodium hydroxide etching process to fix Pt nanoparticles. The resulting fluorine-free Ti₃C₂T_X/Pt composite features stable layered structure and metallic properties. As an electrocatalyst for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), the overpotential of fluorine-free Ti₃C₂T_X/Pt in a 0.5 M H₂SO₄ water solution at − 10 mA/cm⁻² is only 180 mV and 25% lower than that of fluorine-containing Ti₃C₂T_X/Pt. The HER performance remains stable after 80 h of reaction. The improvement in HER activity of the fluorine-free Ti₃C₂T_X/Pt can be attributed to the excellent electrical conductivity, more active sites, less inert surface groups, and electronic effects between the Pt and surface functional groups of alkali-etched Ti₃C₂T_X. This work broadens the application of fluorine-free Ti₃C₂T_X in the field of hydrogen evolution reactions.