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Synergistically Tuning Water and Hydrogen Binding Abilities Over Co 4 N by Cr Doping for Exceptional Alkaline Hydrogen Evolution Electrocatalysis
Author(s) -
Yao Na,
Li Peng,
Zhou Zirui,
Zhao Yuanmeng,
Cheng Gongzhen,
Chen Shengli,
Luo Wei
Publication year - 2019
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.201902449
Subject(s) - overpotential , electrocatalyst , materials science , water splitting , density functional theory , catalysis , inorganic chemistry , electrolyte , transition metal , hydrogen , dissociation (chemistry) , chemical engineering , nitride , nanotechnology , chemistry , computational chemistry , electrochemistry , photocatalysis , electrode , organic chemistry , layer (electronics) , engineering
Searching for highly efficient and cost‐effective electrocatalysts toward the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) in alkaline electrolyte is highly desirable for the development of alkaline water splitting, but still remains a significant challenge. Herein, the rational design of Cr‐doped Co 4 N nanorod arrays grown on carbon cloth (Cr–Co 4 N/CC) that can efficiently catalyze the HER in alkaline media is reported. It displays outstanding performance, with the exceptionally small overpotential of 21 mV to obtain the current density of 10 mA cm −2 and good stability in 1.0 m KOH, which is even better than the commercial Pt/C electrocatalyst, and much lower than most of the reported transition metal nitride‐based and other non‐noble metal‐based electrocatalysts toward the alkaline HER. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations and experimental results reveal that the Cr atoms not only act as oxophilic sites for boosting water adsorption and dissociation, but also modulate the electronic structure of Co 4 N to endow optimized hydrogen binding abilities on Co atoms, thereby leading to accelerating both the alkaline Volmer and Heyrovsky reaction kinetics. In addition, this strategy can be extended to other metals (such as Mo, Mn, and Fe) doped Co 4 N electrocatalysts, thus may open up a new avenue for the rational design of highly efficient transition metal nitride‐based HER catalysts and beyond.