Enhanced interfacial stability of Pt/TiO2/Ti via Pt-O bonding for efficient acidic electrolyzer.

[Display omitted] • The Pt-O bond between Pt and TiO 2 enhances interfacial stability of Pt/TiO 2 /Ti. • Optimized interfacial electronic structure promotes an appropriate H adsorption. • The perfect encapsulation of TiO 2 prevents hydrogenation breakage of Ti substrate. • Pt/TiO 2 /Ti performs high and stable HER activity (η 10 = 23 mV, 180 mA cm−2 for 25 h). • Constructed acidic electrolyzer presents efficient water splitting performance. The development of efficient and stable integrated electrodes is crucial for the advancement of electrolyzer. Herein, the ultra-low platinum (12.7 μg Pt cm−2) anchored TiO 2 nano-polyhedrons protective titanium fibers paper (Pt/TiO 2 /Ti) is synthesized as an integrated electrode for gas diffusion, current collector and catalytic hydrogen production. The Pt/TiO 2 /Ti electrode exhibits remarkable activity (23 mV at 10 mA cm−2) and durability (180 mA cm−2 for 25 h) for hydrogen evolution reaction in acidic electrolyte, which is attributed to the enhanced interface via Pt-O bond between Pt and TiO 2. Specifically, the optimizing electronic structure of Pt anchoring on the TiO 2 enhances hydrogen adsorption energy to improve the intrinsic activity of HER. In addition, the relatively negative adsorption energy (E ads) of Pt atom on TiO 2 significantly contributes to the structural stability of the Pt/TiO 2 /Ti electrode. Moreover, the complete encapsulation of titanium fibers by TiO 2 layer enhances the structural stability of Pt/TiO 2 /Ti by preventing hydrogenation-induced breakage of the titanium substrate. The constructed electrolyzer of (−) Pt/TiO 2 /Ti || IrO 2 /TiO 2 /Ti (+) presents efficient water splitting performance (1.464 V at 10 mA cm−2) and long-term durability (∼100% retention for 30 h) in acidic electrolyte. This work highlights the importance of integrated electrodes and the feasibility of acidic electrolyzer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]