A novel amorphous/crystalline RuTe heterostructure catalyst for efficient and sustainable hydrogen production

•Porous amorphous RuTe coated on 1D hollow Te nanotubes was achieved by a facile and environmentally friendly method.•The a-RuTe@c-Te combines the benefits of both amorphous and crystalline components, amplifying its catalytic activity.•The strong interfacial electron interaction optimizes charge transfer and hydrogen binding strength.•This synthesis demonstrates generality for designing highly active, stable amorphous-crystalline catalyst. The growing energy crisis and environmental concerns demand sustainable energy solutions, with hydrogen emerging as a promising alternative due to its zero emissions and high energy density. While water electrolysis is ideal and sustainable approach for hydrogen production, it requires efficient electrocatalysts for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Platinum (Pt) is highly effective but costly and less active in alkaline media, prompting research into other alternatives. Ruthenium (Ru), particularly in the form of RuTe2, has emerged as a promising alternative due to its better hydrolytic dissociation capacity and lower cost. This study introduces an amorphous/crystalline heterostructure catalyst (a-RuTe@c-Te) for enhanced alkaline HER. The catalyst was synthesized through a green method, producing a porous amorphous RuTe layer on the crystalline Te nanotubes. The a-RuTe@c-Te catalyst demonstrated superior HER activity, with a low overpotential of 27 mV at 10 mA cm−2 in 1 M KOH, outperforming commercial Pt/C and crystalline RuTe2. The density functional theory (DFT) calculations reveal that the d-band center of a-RuTe@c-Te was pulled up closer to Fermi level by the electron enrichments at the amorphous/crystalline interface, leading to a reduced electron filling in the antibonding orbitals, thus increasing the hydrogen adsorption strength. This work offers a promising approach for designing high-performance HER catalysts, advancing sustainable energy applications.