Mesoporous nitrogen, sulfur co-doped carbon dots/CoS hybrid as an efficient electrocatalyst for hydrogen evolution. Issue 6 (18th January 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Wang, Liping; Wu, Xiuqin; Guo, Sijie; Han, Mumei; Zhou, Yunjie; Sun, Yue; Huang, Hui; Liu, Yang; Kang, Zhenhui
• Is Part Of: Journal of materials chemistry. Volume 5:Issue 6(2017)
• Page Start: 2717
• Page End: 2723
• Publication Date: 2017-01-18
• Subjects: Materials -- Research -- Periodicals; Chemistry, Analytic -- Periodicals; Environmental sciences -- Research -- Periodicals; 543.0284
• DOI: 10.1039/c6ta09580a
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2050-7488

Abstract

Abstract : Mesoporous NSCDs/CoS hybrid exhibits desired electrocatalytic activity for electrochemical hydrogen evolution reaction. Abstract : Hydrogen is an ideal energy carrier for renewable energy, but a high overpotential is required to achieve reasonable H2 evolution, which makes the design of highly active electrocatalysts for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) urgent. Here, we report a nitrogen, sulfur co-doped carbon dots (NSCDs)/CoS hybrid with a three-dimensional mesoporous sponge-like nanostructure, fabricated via heat-treatment, which as electrocatalyst exhibits the desired electrocatalytic activity for electrochemical HER. A series of NSCDs/CoS hybrids with different contents of NSCDs were prepared by adjusting the concentration of NSCDs, of which the NSCDs/CoS hybrid with 20 mg L −1 NSCDs exhibits the best electrocatalytic activity towards HER with an onset potential of 0.095 V, an overpotential at 10 mA cm −2 of 165 mV, a small Tafel slope of 56 mV per decade, and a good stability in 0.5 M H2 SO4 . The excellent electrocatalytic activity of NSCDs/CoS for HER is attributed to synergetic effects of NSCDs and CoS, in which the NSCDs could protect the CoS from dissolution/agglomeration under acidic conditions, and the increased surface area of the NSCDs/CoS hybrid and the high charge transfer efficiency between NSCDs and CoS via Co–S–C bonding enhanced the HER performance.