RuCo alloy bimodal nanoparticles embedded in N-doped carbon: a superior pH-universal electrocatalyst outperforms benchmark Pt for the hydrogen evolution reaction

Author(s): Feifei Zhang ¹ ^, ² ^, ³ ^, ⁴ , Yinlong Zhu ¹ ^, ² ^, ³ ^, ⁴ , Yu Chen ⁵ ^, ² ^, ³ ^, ⁴ , Yizhihao Lu ¹ ^, ² ^, ³ ^, ⁴ , Qian Lin ¹ ^, ² ^, ³ ^, ⁴ , Lian Zhang ¹ ^, ² ^, ³ ^, ⁴ , Shanwen Tao ⁶ ^, ⁷ ^, ⁸ ^, ⁹ , Xiwang Zhang ¹ ^, ² ^, ³ ^, ⁴ , Huanting Wang ¹ ^, ² ^, ³ ^, ⁴

Publication date (Electronic): 2020

Journal: Journal of Materials Chemistry A

Publisher: Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC)

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Abstract

Benefiting from the unique structure and composition, a superior hybrid composed of RuCo alloy bimodal nanoparticles embedded in N-doped carbon exhibits exceptional HER activities in all pH conditions, outperforming the benchmark Pt/C catalyst.

Abstract

Developing cost-effective and high-performance electrocatalysts for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) in all pH conditions is of great significance for scalable and sustainable hydrogen production through electrochemical water splitting. Herein, a novel hybrid composed of RuCo alloy bimodal nanoparticles embedded in N-doped carbon was prepared from pillar-layered chiral metal–organic frameworks via one facile encapsulation-pyrolysis strategy. Due to the unique hybrid structure and composition, the optimized RuCo@NC-600 (prepared at a pyrolysis temperature of 600 °C) catalyst exhibits outstanding HER catalytic activities in alkaline, acidic, and neutral media. Remarkably, the RuCo@NC-600 achieves a current density of 10 mA cm ⁻² at extremely low overpotentials of 34, 6 and 60 mV in 1.0 M KOH, 0.5 M H ₂SO ₄ and 1.0 M PBS solutions, respectively, superior to the benchmark Pt/C catalyst. In addition, a symmetric two-electrode alkaline electrolyzer device pairing RuCo@NC-600 as both cathode and anode displays excellent performance, along with an impressive stability without noticeable attenuation up to 120 h. This work paves the way to the rational development of efficient pH-universal HER electrocatalysts.

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Recent Progress in Cobalt-Based Heterogeneous Catalysts for Electrochemical Water Splitting

Jiahai Wang, Wei Cui, Qian Liu … (2016)

Water electrolysis is considered as the most promising technology for hydrogen production. Much research has been devoted to developing efficient electrocatalysts for hydrogen production via the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen production via the oxygen evolution reaction (OER). The optimum electrocatalysts can drive down the energy costs needed for water splitting via lowering the overpotential. A number of cobalt (Co)-based materials have been developed over past years as non-noble-metal heterogeneous electrocatalysts for HER and OER. Recent progress in this field is summarized here, especially highlighting several important bifunctional catalysts. Various approaches to improve or optimize the electrocatalysts are introduced. Finally, the current existing challenges and the future working directions for enhancing the performance of Co-implicated electrocatalysts are proposed.

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Molybdenum phosphide as an efficient electrocatalyst for the hydrogen evolution reaction

Peng Xiao, Kok Lim, Jing-Yuan Wang … (2014)

The phosphorization of molybdenum leads to a good non-noble metal catalyst for the hydrogen evolution reaction in both acidic and alkaline conditions.

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Plasma-Assisted Synthesis of NiCoP for Efficient Overall Water Splitting.

Appala Gandi, Dalaver H. Anjum, Udo Schwingenschlögl … (2016)

Efficient water splitting requires highly active, earth-abundant, and robust catalysts. Monometallic phosphides such as Ni2P have been shown to be active toward water splitting. Our theoretical analysis has suggested that their performance can be further enhanced by substitution with extrinsic metals, though very little work has been conducted in this area. Here we present for the first time a novel PH3 plasma-assisted approach to convert NiCo hydroxides into ternary NiCoP. The obtained NiCoP nanostructure supported on Ni foam shows superior catalytic activity toward the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) with a low overpotential of 32 mV at -10 mA cm-2 in alkaline media. Moreover, it is also capable of catalyzing the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) with high efficiency though the real active sites are surface oxides in situ formed during the catalysis. Specifically, a current density of 10 mA cm-2 is achieved at overpotential of 280 mV. These overpotentials are among the best reported values for non-noble metal catalysts. Most importantly, when used as both the cathode and anode for overall water splitting, a current density of 10 mA cm-2 is achieved at a cell voltage as low as 1.58 V, making NiCoP among the most efficient earth-abundant catalysts for water splitting. Moreover, our new synthetic approach can serve as a versatile route to synthesize various bimetallic or even more complex phosphides for various applications.