Hydrogen evolution reaction(HER)in neutral medium suffers from slow kinetics as compared to that in alkaline or acidic conditions,owing to larger Ohmic loss and low proton concentration.Here we report that a self-supported nanoporous Au-SnO_(x)(NP Au-SnO_(x))catalyst with gradient tin oxide surface could significantly enhance HER activity in neutral buffer solution(0.2 M PBS).The NP Au-SnO_(x)catalyst exhibits a low onset overpotential of 38 mV and a small Tafel slope of 79 mV dec^(−1).The current density of 10 mA cm^(−2)is manifested at an overpotential as low as 148 mV,representing the comparable performance of Pt/C catalyst.This high catalytic activity can retain at least 10 hours without any detectable decay.The superior HER activity is proposed to originate from the gradient SnO_(x)structure and metal/oxide interfaces in nanoporous ligaments.Furthermore,the X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy reveals that the gradient oxide in the ligament is remarkably stable during long-term reaction.
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