Boosting alkaline/neutral hydrogen evolution reaction of nickel selenium by introducing carbon dopants

Abstract

Searching for efficient, cost-effective, and durable nonprecious electrocatalysts for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is extremely desirable in sustainable and renewable energy researches, but remains highly challenging in recent decades. Herein, a novel Nickel-Selenium-Carbon (Ni-Se-C) electrocatalysts fabricated on nickel foam are produced by a one-step facile electrodeposition method. Under the optimum conditions, the Ni-Se-C electrocatalyst displays extraordinary performance with ultralow HER overpotentials of 68 and 219 mV at 10 mA·cm−2 under alkaline or neutral conditions, respectively, as well as excellent durability. Besides, the Ni-Se-C electrocatalyst has demonstrated a reduction in the activation energy (Ea) of HER (26.0 kJ·mol−1) in comparison to the Ni-Se electrocatalyst (33.1 kJ·mol−1). The introduction of C has a beneficial effect of reducing the electron density around Ni and Se, which in turn adjusts the electronic structure of the Ni-Se-C electrocatalyst. This accelerates the efficiency of electron transfer and exposes more surface catalytic active sites, thereby significantly improving the HER performance of the Ni-Se-C electrocatalyst. In addition, the doping of C can also adjust the hydrophilicity of the electrocatalyst surface, which facilitates the detachment of bubbles and quickly re-expose the active sites. This finding offers guidance and inspiration to produce low-cost and extremely effective nonprecious HER electrocatalyst for industrial hydrogen production.