Unlocking Miscibility Barriers in Multi-Metallic Alloy Nanostructures for Water Electrolysis

Mondal, Surajit (2025) Unlocking Miscibility Barriers in Multi-Metallic Alloy Nanostructures for Water Electrolysis. PhD thesis, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Kolkata.

Text (PhD thesis of Surajit Mondal (18RS046)) 18RS046.pdf - Submitted Version Restricted to Repository staff only Download (23MB)

Abstract

Multi-metallic alloys have emerged as promising electrocatalysts for cost-effective green hydrogen production via water electrolysis. The catalytic activity can be enhanced by attuning the structure-property correlation in the nanostructured ensembles. The introductory Chapter-1 discusses renewable energy conversion and storage systems, various types of catalysts, and the structure-property relationship. In Chapter-2, materials and methods, the physical and electrochemical characterization methods are discussed. Chapter-3 shows the crystal structure selective incorporation of oxophilic In into Ni lattice to enhance the alkaline hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) activity. In Chapter-4, the 90-year-old Hume-Rothery rule is adapted for the first time to design atomically thin nanosheets of a tetra-metallic alloy with specific basal plane, which has been implemented as a bifunctional electrocatalyst for water electrolysis. Chapter-5 presents a unique strategy to stabilize the metastable phase of Ru nanosheets by introducing a p-block element. This metastable phase exhibits improved electrocatalytic H₂ yield. Chapter-6 demonstrates that the activation energy barrier for random-to-ordered phase transition can be increased by the introduction of a dopant atom, aiding the stabilization of an electrocatalytically active mixed phase for achieving an excellent H2 yield. In Chapter 7, the summary and future prospects of this thesis work are discussed.

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