Silver nanoclusters doped with rhodium hydride, manufacturing method thereof, and electrochemical catalyst for hydrogen gas generation

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12584231-B2
Application number	US-202217959369-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 4, 2022
Priority date	Aug 5, 2021
Publication date	Mar 24, 2026
Grant date	Mar 24, 2026

Abstract

The present invention relates to silver nanoclusters doped with rhodium hydride, a method of producing the same, and an electrochemical catalyst for hydrogen gas generation. The silver nanoclusters doped with rhodium hydride of the present invention have utility as an electrochemical catalyst, have a significantly low production cost compared to a platinum (Pt) catalyst according to the related art, and exhibit an effect of generating hydrogen gas equal to or greater than that of the Pt catalyst.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . Silver nanoclusters doped with rhodium hydride, wherein the silver nanoclusters doped with rhodium hydride satisfy the following Chemical Formula 1:
[RhH X Ag 24 (SR) 18 ] 2−   [Chemical Formula 1]
where x is an integer of 1 to 3 according to an oxidation value of Rh; and SR is an organic thiol-based ligand.

2 . The silver nanoclusters doped with rhodium hydride of claim 1 , wherein RhH X of Chemical Formula 1 is RhH.

3 . The silver nanoclusters doped with rhodium hydride of claim 1 , wherein in Chemical Formula 1, the organic thiol-based ligand is C1-C30 alkanethiol, C1-C10 alkyl-substituted C1-C30 alkanethiol, C6-C30 arylthiol, or C1-C10 alkyl-substituted C6-C30 arylthiol.

4 . The silver nanoclusters doped with rhodium hydride of claim 3 , wherein the organic thiol-based ligand is C1-C4 alkyl-substituted C6-C12 arylthiol.

5 . A method of producing silver nanoclusters doped with rhodium hydride, the method comprising the steps of:
step a) preparing a reaction solution by reacting a silver precursor with an organic thiol-based ligand; and step b) producing nanoclusters satisfying the following Chemical Formula 1 by adding a rhodium hydride precursor and a reducing agent to the reaction solution:
[RhH X Ag 24 (SR) 18 ] 2−   [Chemical Formula 1]

where x is an integer of 1 to 3 according to an oxidation value of Rh; and SR is an organic thiol-based ligand.

6 . The method of claim 5 , further comprising, after step b), a step of performing precipitation separation with an aromatic solvent.

7 . The method of claim 5 , wherein a molar ratio of the silver precursor to the rhodium hydride precursor is 1:0.02 to 0.2.

8 . The method of claim 7 , wherein the molar ratio of the silver precursor to the rhodium hydride precursor is 1:0.05 to 0.15.

9 . The method of claim 5 , wherein the silver precursor is one or two or more selected from the group consisting of AgNO 3 , AgBF 4 , AgCF 3 SO 3 , AgClO 4 , AgO 2 CCH 3 , and AgPF 6 .

10 . The method of claim 5 , wherein the rhodium hydride precursor is a halide hydrate of Rh.

11 . The method of claim 5 , wherein the reducing agent is one or two or more selected from triethylamine, oleylamine, carbon monoxide, and sodium borohydride.

12 . An electrochemical catalyst comprising the silver nanoclusters doped with rhodium hydride of claim 1 .

13 . The electrochemical catalyst of claim 12 , wherein the electrochemical catalyst is an electrochemical catalyst for hydrogen gas generation.

14 . A hydrogen gas generator comprising the electrochemical catalyst of claim 12 .

15 . The hydrogen gas generator of claim 14 , further comprising:
a power supply; a working electrode and a counter electrode that are connected to the power supply; and an aqueous electrolyte impregnated with the electrodes, wherein the working electrode is coated with the electrochemical catalyst.

Assignees

• Univ Yonsei Iacf

Inventors

• Lee Dongil
• Yi Hanseok
• Han Sang Myeong

Classifications

• C25B1/04 Primary

  by electrolysis of water · CPC title

• C25B9/17

  Cells comprising dimensionally-stable non-movable electrodes; Assemblies of constructional parts thereof · CPC title

• Y02E60/36

  Hydrogen production from non-carbon containing sources, e.g. by water electrolysis · CPC title

• B01J37/16

  Reducing · CPC title

• B01J23/464

  Rhodium · CPC title