Chapter 9 - Metal organic framework-based nanomaterials as suitable electrocatalysts for evolution of hydrogen

Abstract

Hydrogen-based energy technologies have become frontrunner to meet our future energy needs. Hydrogen can be used to run fuel cells which have the potential to generate power with high efficiency, without emitting harmful gases which can pollute the environment like conventional thermal power plants. Thus the production and storage of molecular hydrogen have attained paramount importance in order for hydrogen fuel cells to become widely commercialized. Electrocatalytic splitting of water (H2O) has the potential to generate very high purity molecular hydrogen (H2), in an inexpensive manner with high energy efficiency. However, the most promising electrocatalysts found experimentally for evolution of hydrogen from water belong to Platinum group metals and its oxides, which are otherwise very expensive due to its scarcity. Thus, there exists a huge demand to find suitable alternative for electrocatalysts for hydrogen evolution. In this context, metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) which are derived from transitional metals and organic ligands have attained prominence. These MOFs-based nanomaterials offer high surface area, tunable chemical compositions and electronic structures, and porous morphologies. These MOFs have the potential to perform as excellent electrocatalyst in terms of onset voltage, overpotential, Tafel slopes, and stability. In this chapter, we present a brief overview about the fundamentals of electrocatalytic evolution of Hydrogen. Further, we have discussed the various types of MOFs and its derivatives, its synthesis process, and its application in hydrogen evolution electrocatalyst reactions. Finally, we present various strategies which are reported in literature to improve the electrocatalytic performance of MOF-based electrocatalysts.