Open AccessAnchoring zero valence single atoms of nickel and iron on graphdiyne for hydrogen evolution
Author(s) -
Yurui Xue,
Bolong Huang,
Yuanping Yi,
Yuan Guo,
Zicheng Zuo,
Yongjun Li,
Zhiyu Jia,
Huibiao Liu,
Yuliang Li
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
nature communications
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.559
H-Index - 365
ISSN - 2041-1723
DOI - 10.1038/s41467-018-03896-4
Subject(s) - nickel , hydrogen , materials science , valence (chemistry) , anchoring , chemical physics , chemistry , metallurgy , organic chemistry , structural engineering , engineering
Electrocatalysis by atomic catalysts is a major focus of chemical and energy conversion effort. Although transition-metal-based bulk electrocatalysts for electrochemical application on energy conversion processes have been reported frequently, anchoring the stable transition-metal atoms (e.g. nickel and iron) still remains a practical challenge. Here we report a strategy for fabrication of ACs comprising only isolated nickel/iron atoms anchored on graphdiyne. Our findings identify the very narrow size distributions of both nickel (1.23 Å) and iron (1.02 Å), typical sizes of single-atom nickel and iron. The precision of this method motivates us to develop a general approach in the field of single-atom transition-metal catalysis. Such atomic catalysts have high catalytic activity and stability for hydrogen evolution reactions.