An energy-saving support made of silver nanowire aerogel for hydrogen evolution reaction

Minimizing the potential drop due to serial resistances in electrocatalytic systems and the corresponding energy overhead is required to achieve better overall catalytic performance. However, the role of the support is normally overlooked through iR compensation. Here, a silver nanowire (AgNW) aerogel-based support is developed to generate highly energy-efficient catalytic systems upon catalyst loading. In a case study of two Ni-based catalytic systems for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), outstanding performance is achieved with ultralow solution resistance (R_s ∼ 0.3 Ω) and overpotential without iR compensation (87 and 77 mV at 100 mA cm⁻² in 1 M KOH, respectively). Density functional calculations support the theoretical hypothesis that the support-induced hierarchical nanostructures of the loaded catalyst could result in favorable hydrogen adsorption sites and enhanced conductivity and HER activity. This work thus opens up the possibility of developing highly efficient catalytic systems using NW-based supports.