Boron-Intercalation-Induced Phase Evolution of Rh Metallene for Energy-Saving H₂ Production by H₂ O₂ Oxidation Coupled with Water Electrolysis

Tailoring the morphology and crystal structure of metallene is critical to improve its electrocatalytic performance. In this work, hetero-phase RhB metallene (h-RhB metallene) with amorphous/crystalline structure is readily prepared by a two-step method. The h-RhB metallene is very unique in its non-metallic heteroatom doping and amorphous/crystalline structure. Benefiting from the unique metallene structure and the optimized electronic states induced by the incorporation of B atoms, the h-RhB metallene exhibits superior performance for hydrogen evolution reaction and hydrogen peroxide electro-oxidation reaction (HPOR). When coupled with HPOR, the h-RhB metallene||h-RhB metallene water electrolysis two-electrode system exhibits a lower cell voltage of 0.379 V (@ 10 mA cm^-2 ) compared with the overall water splitting (1.35 V). The presented synthetic method provides a powerful strategy to design metallene with hetero-phase for energy-saving H₂ production.