Co‐W (Hydr)oxide with Ultralow Ru Promotes Water Dissociation Coupled H+ Abstraction in Alkaline HER

The hydrogen evolution reaction in alkaline water electrolysis is facilitated through the electrodeposition of trimetallic catalyst on nickel foam using the chronoamperometry technique. Specifically, the trimetallic catalyst CoWRu@NF is deposited onto a nickel foam substrate. The catalytic performance of this trimetallic catalytic electrode for the Hydrogen Evolution Reaction (HER) is then assessed in a 1.0 M potassium hydroxide (KOH) solution. This specially designed trimetallic catalytic electrode system efficiently provides the more active sites through the Co component. Subsequently, it facilitates the reduction of protons (H+) to generate hydrogen gas using the Ru component. Tungsten acts as a co‐catalyst in the system for water dissociation promotor by removing hydroxide formed after water dissociation and preventing the deactivation of Ruthenium by certain reaction intermediates. The CoWRu@NF trimetallic catalyst demonstrates excellent activity, showcasing a low overpotential (−8 mV) to achieve a current density of (−10 mA/cm2. Additionally, it exhibits low Tafel slope values (101.2 mV dec−1), credited to the presence of cobalt and tungsten alongside Ruthenium in the catalytic system. This configuration is specifically designed to enhance the kinetics of the hydrogen‐evolving reaction. Electrochemical co‐deposition was deployed to synthesize an activity improved CoWRu/Ni electrocatalyst that demonstrated high performance for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) in an alkaline solution. In this rational design, Co2+ promotes water dissociation, W6+ assists hydroxide anion removal, and Ru0 performs proton reduction. Altogether, a synergistic enhancement was witnessed for this system.