(688a) High Throughput Discovery of Ternary Cu-Fe-Ru Alloy Catalysts for Photo-Driven Hydrogen Production

Green hydrogen from light driven processes could substantially reduce our overall dependence on fossil fuels. To realize this potential, it is necessary to find active and stable catalysts for the water splitting reaction or hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Here, we highlight the discovery of insitu formed Cu_xRu_yFe_1-x-y nanoparticle catalysts for photo-driven HER. This study utilizes high throughput experimentation, experimental design and optimization, and characterization experiments to rapidly find the most active binary and ternary Cu, Ru, and Fe structures for this reaction. The heterogeneity of the structures and activities identified in this study could not have been easily found by traditional catalytic synthesis processes since Cu with Ru and Fe are thermodynamically immiscible in the bulk phase. The findings in this study highlights the expansive screening capabilities of using these interdisciplinary and sophisticated frameworks for digitally aided catalytic discovery.