Pt nanoparticles anchored on Ti₃C₂ MXene‐derived TiO₂ nanosheets for enhanced hydrogen evolution reaction

Abstract

Platinum (Pt)‐based electrocatalysts are the most excellent catalysts for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). But Pt is limited and expensive on earth, adding the proper matrix to disperse and anchor Pt is a viable way to reduce Pt consumption. Based on the excellent structure and electrochemical properties of two‐dimensional (2D) MXene, the Ti3C2 MXene‐derived TiO2 supported Pt nanoparticles (NPs) catalysts should have good catalytic performance in theoretically, but it has not been studied in experimentally. In this study, Pt NPs were anchored on the multilayer Ti3C2 MXene‐derived TiO2 nanosheets (NSs) to obtain super catalyst. The as‐prepared Pt/TiO2/Ti3C2 catalyst exhibited excellent HER performance under acidic conditions, with an overpotential of 147 mV and a small Tafel slope (54 mv dec−1) at 10 mA cm−2. Meanwhile, it has good stability under acidic conditions, and the activity has no obvious attenuation after 1000 CV cycles. In addition, the results show that anchoring Pt NPs on Ti3C2 MXene‐derived TiO2 NSs can help to reduce the binding energy and hybridization strength between H atoms and the support, thereby promoting the fast hydrogen adsorption‐desorption kinetics and enhancing the activity of HER. This work provides a new avenue for rational construction of high‐performance Ti3C2‐based catalysts.