Scalable synthesis of hetero-structured Ni/NiO@RE2O3/C for high-performance industrial-scale HER catalysis by AEMWE | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Scalable synthesis of hetero-structured Ni/NiO@RE2O3/C for high-performance industrial-scale HER catalysis by AEMWE Lingzheng Bu, Xin Wei, Jiejie Meng, Xing Hu, Xueming Su, Hongbo Geng, and 3 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-9145854/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Actualizing mass production of high-performance Ni-based nanocatalysts and industrial-scale HER catalysis via AEMWE is significant yet challenging. Herein, we develop a scalable method to generally produce Ni/NiO@RE2O3/C with 500 g-scale for unprecedented HER catalysis of AEMWE. The hetero-structured Ni/NiO@La2O3/C consists of fcc Ni metal as the core, fcc NiO as the sub-surface layer and bcc La2O3 adhered on the local surface. Its remarkable HER performance of 32 mV overpotential at 10 mA cm-2 and 29.2 mV dec-1 Tafel slope is significantly better than those of Pt/C, Raney Ni, Ni/NiO/C and other Ni/NiO@RE2O3/C. More importantly, it can realize industrial-scale current densities of 1 A cm-2 and 2 A cm-2 at 1.6 V and 1.7 V for AEMWE, respectively, exceeding the U.S. DOE's target in 2025 specifications, along with a long-term lifetime of 250 h with voltage decay rate of only 76 μV h-1, demonstrating a large potential for industrial-scale AEMWE application. Physical sciences/Materials science/Nanoscale materials/Synthesis and processing Physical sciences/Materials science/Materials for energy and catalysis/Electrocatalysis Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Supplementary Files Supportinginformation20260317.pdf Supporting information Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-9145854","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":612295902,"identity":"2f61de21-164f-4789-a20b-207bfae30744","order_by":0,"name":"Lingzheng Bu","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAAqUlEQVRIiWNgGAWjYBACPgYeBoYPELYBcVrYgFoYZ5CshZmHNC38Z49J27ZtS2xgb94mwVBzhxhbzqVJ55y5ndjAc6xMguHYMyK0MPaYSedUALVI5JhJMDYcJkILM4+ZtIUBUIv8G2K1sAG1MIBt4SFWCw9fsmXPmdvGbTxpxRYJx4jQws9/9uCNn223ZfvZD2+88aGGCC0I60BEAgkaRsEoGAWjYBTgAQDPazC97dYd0QAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2672-0420","institution":"Xiamen University","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Lingzheng","middleName":"","lastName":"Bu","suffix":""},{"id":612295903,"identity":"f602a3db-3f3c-4324-9fd3-7c5d048a8de4","order_by":1,"name":"Xin Wei","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Xiamen University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Xin","middleName":"","lastName":"Wei","suffix":""},{"id":612295904,"identity":"35f9b971-8a24-48a7-b123-979a3441532b","order_by":2,"name":"Jiejie Meng","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Xiamen University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Jiejie","middleName":"","lastName":"Meng","suffix":""},{"id":612295905,"identity":"cda24f74-7393-4689-b715-c65665db1d4f","order_by":3,"name":"Xing Hu","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Hebei University of Technology","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Xing","middleName":"","lastName":"Hu","suffix":""},{"id":612295906,"identity":"802220f5-1bfd-497a-877b-cd672be90120","order_by":4,"name":"Xueming Su","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Suzhou University of Technology","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Xueming","middleName":"","lastName":"Su","suffix":""},{"id":612295907,"identity":"635445bd-eaef-4b41-a286-19168baee9ba","order_by":5,"name":"Hongbo Geng","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Suzhou University of Technology","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Hongbo","middleName":"","lastName":"Geng","suffix":""},{"id":612295908,"identity":"8f35de13-12fe-44c1-9ab8-d230fc8fd7ff","order_by":6,"name":"Kezhu Jiang","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Hebei University of Technology","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Kezhu","middleName":"","lastName":"Jiang","suffix":""},{"id":612295909,"identity":"0d992d77-2235-4879-89a5-7e19928217ef","order_by":7,"name":"Duo Wang","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Xiamen University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Duo","middleName":"","lastName":"Wang","suffix":""},{"id":612295910,"identity":"a892ceee-523b-4494-accd-90c7337bb4f5","order_by":8,"name":"Xiaoqing Huang","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3219-4316","institution":"Xiamen University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Xiaoqing","middleName":"","lastName":"Huang","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2026-03-17 08:17:33","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-9145854/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-9145854/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":106094416,"identity":"f319c4f9-ceb8-4319-a9a5-6b2f88c3b017","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-04-03 11:42:30","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":1671763,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"Article File","description":"","filename":"Manuscript20260317.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-9145854/v1_covered_71e6ed4c-60f8-4a6a-a96e-73248130f293.pdf"},{"id":106058177,"identity":"28472632-78fd-4728-ba82-7a87bd6946ed","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-04-03 02:19:06","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":5886520,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"Supporting information","description":"","filename":"Supportinginformation20260317.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-9145854/v1/a43d3ebf689b57b5ee4b1e2e.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"There is \u003cb\u003eNO\u003c/b\u003e Competing Interest.","formattedTitle":"Scalable synthesis of hetero-structured Ni/NiO@RE2O3/C for high-performance industrial-scale HER catalysis by AEMWE","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"
[email protected]","identity":"nature-portfolio","isNatureJournal":true,"hasQc":false,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"Nature Portfolio","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":false,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"ejp","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false},"keywords":"","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-9145854/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-9145854/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"Actualizing mass production of high-performance Ni-based nanocatalysts and industrial-scale HER catalysis via AEMWE is significant yet challenging. Herein, we develop a scalable method to generally produce Ni/NiO@RE2O3/C with 500 g-scale for unprecedented HER catalysis of AEMWE. The hetero-structured Ni/NiO@La2O3/C consists of fcc Ni metal as the core, fcc NiO as the sub-surface layer and bcc La2O3 adhered on the local surface. Its remarkable HER performance of 32 mV overpotential at 10 mA cm-2 and 29.2 mV dec-1 Tafel slope is significantly better than those of Pt/C, Raney Ni, Ni/NiO/C and other Ni/NiO@RE2O3/C. More importantly, it can realize industrial-scale current densities of 1 A cm-2 and 2 A cm-2 at 1.6 V and 1.7 V for AEMWE, respectively, exceeding the U.S. DOE's target in 2025 specifications, along with a long-term lifetime of 250 h with voltage decay rate of only 76 μV h-1, demonstrating a large potential for industrial-scale AEMWE application.","manuscriptTitle":"Scalable synthesis of hetero-structured Ni/NiO@RE2O3/C for high-performance industrial-scale HER catalysis by AEMWE","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2026-04-03 02:19:02","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-9145854/v1","editorialEvents":[],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"
[email protected]","identity":"nature-communications","isNatureJournal":true,"hasQc":false,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"NCOMMS","sideBox":"Learn more about [Nature Communications](http://www.nature.com/ncomms/)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"https://mts-ncomms.nature.com/","title":"Nature Communications","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"ejp","reportingPortfolio":"Nature Communications","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"c51e0f27-5464-420d-99bc-ddea97d957b5","owner":[],"postedDate":"April 3rd, 2026","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"under-review","subjectAreas":[{"id":65152131,"name":"Physical sciences/Materials science/Nanoscale materials/Synthesis and processing"},{"id":65152132,"name":"Physical sciences/Materials science/Materials for energy and catalysis/Electrocatalysis"}],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-04-03T02:19:02+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2026-04-03 02:19:02","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-9145854","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-9145854","identity":"rs-9145854","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"XKTyCvWXoU3ODBz1xrDgd","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}
Text is read by the "Ask this paper" AI Q&A widget below.
Extraction quality varies by source — PMC NXML preserves structure
cleanly, OA-HTML may include some navigation residue, and OA-PDF can
have broken hyphenation. The publisher copy
(via DOI)
is the canonical version.