Carbon‐Encapsulated WOx Hybrids as Efficient Catalysts for Hydrogen Evolution. Issue 28 (29th May 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Jing, Shengyu; Lu, Jiajia; Yu, Guangtao; Yin, Shibin; Luo, Lin; Zhang, Zengsong; Ma, Yanfeng; Chen, Wei; Shen, Pei Kang
• Is Part Of: Advanced materials. Volume 30:Issue 28(2018)
• Page Start: n/a
• Page End: n/a
• Publication Date: 2018-05-29
• Subjects: carbon‐encapsulated WOx -- catalysts -- density functional theory -- hydrogen evolution reaction -- stability; Materials -- Periodicals; Chemical vapor deposition -- Periodicals; 620.11
• DOI: 10.1002/adma.201705979
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0935-9648

Abstract

Abstract: Developing non‐noble metal catalysts as Pt substitutes, with good activity and stability, remains a great challenge for cost‐effective electrochemical evolution of hydrogen. Herein, carbon‐encapsulated WO x anchored on a carbon support (WO x @C/C) that has remarkable Pt‐like catalytic behavior for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is reported. Theoretical calculations reveal that carbon encapsulation improves the conductivity, acting as an electron acceptor/donor, and also modifies the Gibbs free energy of H* values for different adsorption sites (carbon atoms over the W atom, O atom, WO bond, and hollow sites). Experimental results confirm that WO x @C/C obtained at 900 °C with 40 wt% metal loading has excellent HER activity regarding its Tafel slope and overpotential at 10 and 60 mA cm −2, and also has outstanding stability at −50 mV for 18 h. Overall, the results and facile synthesis method offer an exciting avenue for the design of cost‐effective catalysts for scalable hydrogen generation. Abstract : Experimental and theoretical studies on carbon‐encapsulated WO x anchored onto carbon supports, as a remarkable Pt‐like catalyst for the hydrogen evolution reaction are presented. Theoretical calculations reveal that the encapsulated carbon atoms play the key role in improving the conductivity of the materials and modifying the Gibbs free energy of H* values for different adsorption sites.