To construct ternary interfacial copper-iron-nickel catalyst via putting metal in MOFs for hydrogen generation

The development of high-performance and low-cost catalysts through a simple method remains a major challenge for the hydrogen generation from hydrogen-storage materials. In this work, we developed a strategy of embedding copper nanoparticles in iron-nickel metal–organic framework (MOF) via a one-step solvothermal process to form a ternary interface of copper-iron-nickel with a favorable local cooperative environment and electronic structure. The optimized [email protected] catalyst exhibits outstanding stability and excellent catalytic activity with a turnover frequency of 132.4 min−1 in the hydrolysis of ammonia borane, surpassing all reported catalysts containing Cu, Fe or Ni and comparable with noble metal catalysts. Based on the experiments and density functional theory (DFT) calculations, the unprecedented activity originates from the three-atom dual-active sites of Cu-Feδ+-Ni2+ interfaces (namely Cu0 and O-Ni2+). Feδ+ significantly promotes the catalytic activity of Cu0 and O-Ni2+ sites through the ternary interfaces. This study opens up a novel approach to effectively improve the performance of non-precious metals by fabricating ternary interfaces with a synergistic effect.