Synthesis of Co9S8 nanoparticle embedded, N, S Co-doped mesoporous carbon with salts as templates for electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution

Abstract

A series of Co9S8 nanoparticles (NPs) entrapped, N, S co-doped carbons were fabricated by using salts as the templates, which involved grounding, carbonation, and acid washing. Various inorganic salts, such as NaCl, KCl, MgCl2, and AlCl3, could be used as the porogens. The porosities of the products could be tuned by the ratios of precursors, annealing temperatures, and kinds of salts. When KCl was adopted, the sample of K-GTCo0.6-900 showed a high BET surface area (773 m2 g−1). Furthermore, the electrocatalytic results exhibited that the high surface area could enhance electrocatalytic activity for HER under alkaline condition. To deliver 10 mA cm−2, K-GTCo0.6-900 possessed low overpotential of 196 mV, as well as good stability.