Improving Hydrogen Evolution Reaction with a Hydrogenase-Like Nanozyme

Although great progress has been made on improving the hydrogen production, highly efficient catalysts, which are able to produce hydrogen in a fast and steady way and at ambient temperature and pressure, are still in large demand. Here, we report that NiCo2O4 nanofibers can functionally mimic the hydrogenase enzyme by catalyzing the aluminum alloy-aid hydrogen evolution reaction at room temperature in a manner analogous to the [NiFe]-hydrogenase. The NiCo2O4 nanozyme readily splits water by forming the Ni-OH-Co intermediate and exhibits robust hydrogen generation with a high yield of 0.61 L/min/g. The NiCo2O4 nanozyme disrupts the adhesive oxidized layer of aluminum alloy and enables the fully consumption of electrons from aluminum. In contrast to the often-expensive synthetic catalysts that rely on rare elements such as ruthenium or platinum, we envision that the developed hydrogenase nanozymes can provide future opportunities for hydrogen production industry.