Platinum Atoms and Nanoparticles Embedded Porous Carbons for Hydrogen Evolution Reaction

Abstract

Due to the growing demand for energy and imminent environmental issues, hydrogen energy has attracted widespread attention as an alternative to traditional fossil energy. Platinum (Pt) catalytic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is a promising technology to produce hydrogen because the consumed electricity can be generated from renewable energy. To overcome the high cost of Pt, one effective strategy is decreasing the Pt nanoparticle (NP) size from submicron to nano-scale or even down to single atom level for efficient interacting water molecules. Herein, atomically dispersed Pt and ultra-fine Pt NPs embedded porous carbons were prepared through the pyrolysis of Pt porphyrin-based conjugated microporous polymer. As-prepared electrocatalyst exhibit high HER activity with overpotential of down to 31 mV at 10 mA cm−2, and mass activity of up to 1.3 A mgPt−1 at overpotential of 100 mV, which is double of commercial Pt/C (0.66 A mgPt−1). Such promising performance can be ascribed to the synergistic effect of the atomically dispersed Pt and ultra-fine Pt NPs. This work provides a new strategy to prepare porous carbons with both atomically dispersed metal active sites and corresponding metal NPs for various electrocatalysis, such as oxygen reduction reaction, carbon dioxide reduction, etc.

Elucidating the formation and structural evolution of platinum single-site catalysts for hydrogen evolution reaction

“…This is comparable to the Tafel slope of platinum nanoparticles for the HER. [36,37] The average of 8 XANES spectra, collected during operation at each potential, are shown in Figure 3c. These data show that the oxidation state of platinum decreases from a mixture of +4 and +2 to 0.…”

Pencil Graphite Electrodes Decorated with Platinum Nanoparticles as Efficient Electrocatalysts for Hydrogen Evolution Reaction

“…For this reason, the deposition of catalyst nanoparticles on the surface of carbon-based support materials is a reference model, due to their very high specific surface area. The carbon-based materials that can be used as a support for platinum deposition are carbon nanofibers, carbon nanotubes, carbon nanoparticles (carbon black—CB) and/or graphene oxide [ 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 ]. Furthermore, many data have been recorded for carbon nanostructures as a platinum-supporting material, emphasizing their contribution to electrocatalyst performances.…”

“…Furthermore, many data have been recorded for carbon nanostructures as a platinum-supporting material, emphasizing their contribution to electrocatalyst performances. All studies summarize an improved electrocatalytic activity, with a higher electrochemical surface area [ 5 , 7 ]. The interaction between carbon-based supports and platinum catalysts presents such a large interest due to their ability to balance each other’s deficiencies.…”

Soft and Nanostructured Materials for Energy Conversion

“…This Special Issue on “Soft and Nanostructured Materials for Energy Conversion” covers the fabrication, characterization, and properties of soft and nanostructured materials for possible applications in energy conversion. This Special Issue collects five original, full-length articles on soft and nanostructured materials for energy storage and conversion [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 ], and one review on soft and flexible materials for power sources and sensors [ 6 ].…”

“…Pt nanoparticles and atoms have been successfully dispersed into porous carbons to obtain efficient electrocatalysts for hydrogen evolution reactions (HER) by Kang et al [ 3 ]. The synthesis of the nanomaterial has been carried out by the direct pyrolysis of a Pt porphyrin-based conjugated microporous polymer.…”