Abstract
Cobalt-nitride-carbide (Co-N-C) catalysts are promising cost-efficient transition metal catalysts for electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution, but few works investigate the metal–support interaction (MSI) effect on hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) performance. Herein, efficient Co-N-CX catalysts with controllable MSI between encapsulated Co nanoparticles and nitrogen-doped graphitic carbon nanosheets were synthesized via a facile organic–inorganic hybridization method. Results demonstrate that the Co-N-C0.025M catalyst with the coexistence of single-atom Co sites and Co nanoparticles prepared by 0.025 M cobalt nitrate shows excellent HER performance, achieving a low overpotential of 145 mV to reach 10 mA cm−2 in 0.5 M sulfuric acid, which is mainly because the optimal MSI, which leads to a moderate hydrogen adsorption energy and improved electroactive sites, not only facilitates the charge transfer to improve the HER kinetics, but also improves the durability of the catalyst by Co-N bond anchoring and encapsulation of active Co species. This work provides guidance to further reveal the influence of MSI on their catalytic activity.
Highlights
Hydrogen energy is believed to be an ideal energy source to counter climate-related environmental degradation and mitigate energy crisis thanks to its renewability, high energy density, and the absence of greenhouse gas emissions (Zhu et al, 2020)
The Co-N-CX catalysts were synthesized as follows: (1) The precursor solution was synthesized via a one-pot reaction by just mixing dicyandiamide, glucose, and cobalt nitrate solution with concentration X. (2) The precursor solution was dried well under reduced pressure and the remaining powder was carbonized at high temperature under an Argon atmosphere to obtain Co-NCX
This method was used to prepare other M-N-CX; the performance of the Co-N-C0.025M catalyst was significantly better than other M-N-C0.025M catalysts, and the Co-N-C0.025M prepared at 900°C was found to yield the best hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) activity, eventually
Summary
Hydrogen energy is believed to be an ideal energy source to counter climate-related environmental degradation and mitigate energy crisis thanks to its renewability, high energy density, and the absence of greenhouse gas emissions (Zhu et al, 2020). Sun et al (2018) compared the HER performance of as-prepared cobalt based catalyst with single-atom Co sites encapsulated in hierarchically ordered porous nitrogen-doped carbon (Co-SAS/HOPNC) with the acid-treated Co-NPs/HOPNC electrocatalyst to confirm that atomically dispersed Co sites contribute to the enhanced HER activity, and the overpotential of Co-SAS/HOPNC catalyst was 137 mV in 0.5 M sulfuric acid at the current density of 10 mA cm−2.
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