Post-decorated MOF derived carbon coated Co metal nanoparticles as efficient hydrogen evolution electrocatalyts

Abstract

Hydrogen energy is considered as powerful alternative to fossil energy owing to its virtues of high energy density, eco-friendliness and low cost. Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) can be used as ideal precursors through carbonization used as electrocatalysts in energy storage and coversion fields, which will inherit the merits of ordered structures and large surface area. In this paper, Co-G@C centering on Cobalt as hydrogen evolution electrocatalyst synthesized by carbonizing CUST-515 decorated with glucose as carbon source. Co-G@C possess the overpotentials of 162 and 193 mV at the current density of 10 mA cm−2 in alkaline and acid solutions with long as 24 h stability. This good effect is attributed to the coupled effect of Co and carbon layers as well as the large and ordered pore structures induced by glucose and CUST-515 carbonization, which can accelerate the charge transfer. This work can come up with a reference for the synthesis of non-expensive metal electrocatalysts for water splitting applications.