Carbon Nanotubes Decorated with CoP Nanocrystals: A Highly Active Non‐Noble‐Metal Nanohybrid Electrocatalyst for Hydrogen Evolution1. (20th May 2014)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Liu, Qian; Tian, Jingqi; Cui, Wei; Jiang, Ping; Cheng, Ningyan; Asiri, Abdullah M.; Sun, Xuping
• Is Part Of: Angewandte Chemie. Volume 126:Number 26(2014)
• Page Start: 6828
• Page End: 6832
• Publication Date: 2014-05-20
• Subjects: Chemistry -- Periodicals; 540
• DOI: 10.1002/ange.201404161
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0044-8249

Abstract

<abstract abstract-type="main" xml:lang="en"> <title>Abstract</title> <p>The development of effective and inexpensive hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) electrocatalysts for future renewable energy systems is highly desired. The strongly acidic conditions in proton exchange membranes create a need for acid‐stable HER catalysts. A nanohybrid that consists of carbon nanotubes decorated with CoP nanocrystals (CoP/CNT) was prepared by the low‐temperature phosphidation of a Co₃O₄/CNT precursor. As a novel non‐noble‐metal HER catalyst operating in acidic electrolytes, the nanohybrid exhibits an onset overpotential of as low as 40 mV, a Tafel slope of 54 mV dec⁻¹, an exchange current density of 0.13 mA cm⁻², and a Faradaic efficiency of nearly 100 %. This catalyst maintains its catalytic activity for at least 18 hours and only requires overpotentials of 70 and 122 mV to attain current densities of 2 and 10 mA cm⁻², respectively.</p> </abstract>