Bromine and nitrogen co-doped tungsten nanoarrays to enable hydrogen evolution at all pH values. Issue 34 (17th August 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Li, Qun; Han, Ce; Ma, Xiao; Wang, Dewen; Xing, Zhicai; Yang, Xiurong
• Is Part Of: Journal of materials chemistry. Volume 5:Issue 34(2017)
• Page Start: 17856
• Page End: 17861
• Publication Date: 2017-08-17
• Subjects: Materials -- Research -- Periodicals; Chemistry, Analytic -- Periodicals; Environmental sciences -- Research -- Periodicals; 543.0284
• DOI: 10.1039/c7ta05188c
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2050-7488

Abstract

Abstract : Introducing Br and N into metallic tungsten nanoarrays produces a corrosion resistance in W/BrN with high performance for HER at all pH values. The excellent activity, enhanced electrical conductivity, as well as large turnover frequency of W/BrN are attributed to the codoping of Br and N. Abstract : Introducing bromine and nitrogen into metallic tungsten nanoarrays produces a W/BrN electrocatalyst with high performance for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) at all pH ranges. Unlike the acid soluble metals (such as Fe, Co, Ni), the resultant W/BrN has successfully inherited the excellent corrosion resistance from pure metallic W, particularly in proton exchange membrane compatible acid electrolytes. However, more importantly, the W/BrN develops some outstanding electrochemical properties, such as enhanced electrical conductivity, optimized electronic properties, and large turnover frequency (TOF), after codoping with Br and N. Hence, the HER performance of W/BrN was higher by several orders of magnitude in current density than that of pure metallic W. To attain current density of 10 mA cm −2, the W/BrN only needs overpotentials of 148, 190 and 94 mV in acidic, neutral and alkaline conditions, respectively. In addition, we investigated the long-term stability of W/BrN in three electrolytes.