Electrolytic Hydrogen Evolution Study of Porous Tungsten Carbide‐Loaded Pt Derived from ZIFs

Abstract

AbstractThe development of an electrochemical hydrogen evolution catalyst with high activity and low Pt loading and excellent stability is of high significance for the extensive promotion and practical application of hydrogen energy. Hence, we introduced ZIFs and their derivatives with tunable pore size and large specific surface area, which were carbonized at high temperatures and supported with Pt as catalysts for hydrogen evolution reaction. We used ZIF‐8 as the seed to obtain the precursor Co@ZIFs, W element was introduced into Co@ZIFs by impregnation method to synthesize WC. A series of Pt/WC catalysts were prepared with WC as support. The best sample Pt/WC‐3 in 0.5 M H2SO4 with a Pt content of 8.3 wt % has a low overpotential (η10=28 mV), which is much less than the 34 mV of 20% commercial Pt/C and had a Tafel slope of only 18.9 mV dec−1. It is noteworthy that at 8.3% Pt/WC after 40,000 s of continuous operation at 10 mA cm−2, the overpotential of Pt/WC‐3 barely rises by 5%, which indicates its excellent durability.