Ternary Fe_xCo_1–xP Nanowire Array as a Robust Hydrogen Evolution Reaction Electrocatalyst with Pt-like Activity: Experimental and Theoretical Insight

Abstract

Replacement of precious Pt with earth-abundant electrocatalysts for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) holds great promise for clean energy devices, but the development of low-cost and durable HER catalysts with Pt-like activity is still a huge challenge. In this communication, we report on the development of self-standing ternary FeCoP nanowire array on carbon cloth (FeCoP/CC) as a Pt-free HER catalyst with activities being strongly related to Fe substitution ratio. Electrochemical tests show that FeCoP/CC not only possesses Pt-like activity with the need of overpotential of only 37 mV to drive 10 mA cm, outperforming all non-noble-metal HER catalysts reported to date, but demonstrates superior long-term durability in 0.5 M HSO. Density functional theory calculations further reveal that Fe substitution of Co in CoP leads to more optimal free energy of hydrogen adsorption to the catalyst surface. This study offers us a promising flexible monolithic catalyst for practical applications.

Electrocatalysts for Hydrogen Evolution in Alkaline Electrolytes: Mechanisms, Challenges, and Prospective Solutions

“…Ni‐based catalysts are perceived as the most promising electrode materials for HER due to their ability to carry out the hydrogen evolution in alkaline medium because of the special 3d electronic distribution 35. As nanostructures can offer significantly higher surface area to bring more exposed active sites and modified the electronic properties, the nanosized Ni‐based catalysts with a uniform size and morphological distributions have been explored to improve the HER activities in alkaline medium 104, 107.…”

“…However, to find alternative HER catalysts to produce hydrogen from electrocatalytic water splitting on global scale in alkaline medium, a world‐wide aggressive research has been undertaken recently. A range of catalysts have been investigated from micro‐ to nano‐ and solo‐ to heterostructured based on earth abundant metals, such as heteroatom‐doped carbon and TMs‐based oxides, sulfides, phosphides, sulfophosphides, and their alloys 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35. However, catalyst optimizations are facing great difficulties in characterizing, identifying, and controlling the active sites where catalysis occurs 36.…”

Hierarchical Co–FeS2/CoS2 heterostructures as a superior bifunctional electrocatalyst

“…[1][2][3][4][5] Non-noble metal electrocatalysts such as Fe, Co, Ni, Mo, and their suldes, 6-8 phosphides 9-12 or their alloys [13][14][15][16][17] have been investigated widely as electrocatalysts over the past decades. Among them, the low-cost, earthabundant iron sulde has attracted much attention as an electrocatalytic material due to its excellent catalytic activity.…”

Cobalt-vanadium bimetal-based nanoplates for efficient overall water splitting

“…For the practical water spitting, the effective catalysts are needed to decrease the overpotential of the reaction, thus making the process more energy-efficient [8][9][10]. In this regard, the state-of-the art precious metals (Pt, IrO 2 , RuO 2 ) for OER and HER have suffered from the high price and lack of reserves, thus limiting their applications for the overall water splitting [11][12][13].…”