Ru Nanoparticles Supported on Co-Embedded N-Doped Carbon Nanotubes as Efficient Electrocatalysts for Hydrogen Evolution in Basic Media

Abstract

A challenging but urgent task is to construct efficient and robust hydrogen evolution reaction(HER) electrocatalysts for practically feasible and sustainable hydrogen production through alkaline water electrolysis. Herein we report a simple and mild pyrolysis method to synthesize the efficient Ru nanoparticles(NPs) supported on Co-embedded N-doped carbon nanotubes(Ru/Co-NCNTs) catalyst for HER in basic media. The Ru/Co-NCNTs display remarkable performance with a low overpotential of only 35 mV at 10 mA/cm 2 , a small Tafel slope(36 mV/dec), and a high mass activity in 1 mol/L KOH, which is superior to commercial 20% Pt/C catalyst. This excellent performance is benefited from the enhanced conductivity of N-doped carbon nanotubes(NCNTs) and high intrinsic activity triggered by synergistic coupling between Ru NPs and Co-embedded N-doped carbon nanotubes(Co-NCNTs).

Interfacial Electronic Rearrangement and Synergistic Catalysis for Alkaline Water Splitting in Carbon-Encapsulated Ni (111)/Ni3C (113) Heterostructures

“…The alkaline HER activities of the as-obtained Ni-Ni3C/NC samples were investigated in 1 M KOH solution, as shown in Figure S6 (ESI †). In the HER measurements (Figure 3a It has been proven that N doping in carbon can improve its conductivity by optimizing the electronic structure [40][41][42], which often exists in pyridine N and pyrrole N form. Comparatively, pyridine N is more conducive to enhance the conductivity of a carbon skeleton [43,44].…”

Tuning the Mn Dopant To Boost the Hydrogen Evolution Performance of CoP Nanowire Arrays

“…4 Platinum-group (Pt and Ir)-based catalysts are considered to be the best hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) catalysts. 5,6 However, the scarcity and expensiveness hinder its large-scale application. 7 Therefore, it is still urgent to find efficient, cheap, and stable catalysts toward the ever-increasing hydrogen demand.…”

“…Electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution driven by renewable energy (e.g., solar energy, wind energy, and nuclear energy) is an important and promising technology for large-scale clean hydrogen production. − In order to reduce the overpotential and improve the efficiency, catalysts are commonly used in the hydrogen production industry to cut down energy consumption . Platinum-group (Pt and Ir)-based catalysts are considered to be the best hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) catalysts. , However, the scarcity and expensiveness hinder its large-scale application . Therefore, it is still urgent to find efficient, cheap, and stable catalysts toward the ever-increasing hydrogen demand.…”

FeF3@C nanotube arrays grown on carbon fabric as a free-standing cathode for lithium-ion batteries

“…With the rapid development of human society, increasingly more electronic devices are introduced into our daily life, which is leading to an ever-growing demand for energy storage devices with high efficiency and high cost-performance value. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7] Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) occupy the secondary batteries market, due to their overwhelming advantages of energy density, output voltage, and cycle life. [8][9][10][11] The growing demand for LIBs means they face the challenge of limited lithium resources on the earth and high mining costs.…”