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Experimental and Theoretical Assessment of Ni‐Based Binary Compounds for the Hydrogen Evolution Reaction
Author(s) -
Ledendecker Marc,
Schlott Hannah,
Antonietti Markus,
Meyer Bernd,
Shalom Menny
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
advanced energy materials
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 10.08
H-Index - 220
eISSN - 1614-6840
pISSN - 1614-6832
DOI - 10.1002/aenm.201601735
Subject(s) - materials science , catalysis , adsorption , heteroatom , metal , hydrogen , anisotropy , electrochemistry , binary number , chemical physics , chemical engineering , chemistry , thermodynamics , metallurgy , organic chemistry , ring (chemistry) , physics , arithmetic , mathematics , electrode , quantum mechanics , engineering
Metallic binary compounds have emerged in recent years as highly active and stable electrocatalysts toward the hydrogen evolution reaction. In this work, the origin of their high activity from a theoretical and experimental point of view is elucidated. Here, different metallic ceramics as Ni 3 S 2 , Ni 3 N, or Ni 5 P 4 are grown directly on Ni support in order to avoid any contaminations. The correlation of theoretical calculations with detailed material characterization and electrochemical testing paves the way to a deeper understanding of possible active adsorption sites for each material and the observed catalytic activity. It is shown that heteroatoms as P, S, and N actively take part in the reaction and do not act as simple spectator. Due to the anisotropic nature of the materials, a variety of adsorption sites with highly coverage‐dependent properties exists, leading to a general shift in hydrogen adsorption free energies Δ G H close to zero. Extending the knowledge gained about the here described materials, a new catalyst is prepared by modifying a high surface Ni foam, for which current densities up to 100 mA cm −2 at around 0.15 V (for Ni 3 N) are obtained.