Pattern recognition correlating materials properties of the elements to their kinetics for the hydrogen evolution reaction.

Here we demonstrate the use of a previously reported pattern recognition algorithm to evaluate correlations between 50 different materials properties of the elements and their kinetics for the hydrogen evolution reaction in acid. We determined that the melting point and bulk modulus of the elements quantitatively gave the highest correlations of all materials properties investigated. We also showed that the melting point and bulk modulus correlations held true for a popular hydrogen evolution catalysts alloy, NiMo, and a previously untested material, MoSi2. In addition, we quantified the previously known relationship between the d-band center of an element and its kinetics for hydrogen evolution, and found that the melting point and bulk modulus correlations have correlations that are similar to but slightly stronger than those of the d-band center.