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Carbon‐Encapsulated WO x Hybrids as Efficient Catalysts for Hydrogen Evolution
Author(s) -
Jing Shengyu,
Lu Jiajia,
Yu Guangtao,
Yin Shibin,
Luo Lin,
Zhang Zengsong,
Ma Yanfeng,
Chen Wei,
Shen Pei Kang
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
advanced materials
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 10.707
H-Index - 527
eISSN - 1521-4095
pISSN - 0935-9648
DOI - 10.1002/adma.201705979
Subject(s) - overpotential , tafel equation , materials science , catalysis , electrochemistry , carbon fibers , metal , hydrogen , chemical engineering , gibbs free energy , chemistry , nanotechnology , inorganic chemistry , thermodynamics , organic chemistry , metallurgy , composite material , composite number , physics , electrode , engineering
Developing non‐noble metal catalysts as Pt substitutes, with good activity and stability, remains a great challenge for cost‐effective electrochemical evolution of hydrogen. Herein, carbon‐encapsulated WO x anchored on a carbon support (WO x @C/C) that has remarkable Pt‐like catalytic behavior for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is reported. Theoretical calculations reveal that carbon encapsulation improves the conductivity, acting as an electron acceptor/donor, and also modifies the Gibbs free energy of H* values for different adsorption sites (carbon atoms over the W atom, O atom, WO bond, and hollow sites). Experimental results confirm that WO x @C/C obtained at 900 °C with 40 wt% metal loading has excellent HER activity regarding its Tafel slope and overpotential at 10 and 60 mA cm −2 , and also has outstanding stability at −50 mV for 18 h. Overall, the results and facile synthesis method offer an exciting avenue for the design of cost‐effective catalysts for scalable hydrogen generation.