Synergy of Nb Doping and Surface Alloy Enhanced on Water–Alkali Electrocatalytic Hydrogen Generation Performance in Ti‐Based MXene. Issue 11 (5th April 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Du, Cheng‐Feng; Sun, Xiaoli; Yu, Hong; Liang, Qinghua; Dinh, Khang Ngoc; Zheng, Yun; Luo, Yubo; Wang, Zhiguo; Yan, Qingyu
• Is Part Of: Advanced science. Volume 6:Issue 11(2019)
• Page Start: n/a
• Page End: n/a
• Publication Date: 2019-04-05
• Subjects: DFT calculation -- doping -- hydrogen evolution reaction -- MXene -- surface alloying modification; Science -- Periodicals; 505
• DOI: 10.1002/advs.201900116
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2198-3844

Abstract

Abstract: Presented are the theoretical calculation and experimental studies of a Ti3 C2 T x MXene‐based nanohybrid with simultaneous Nb doping and surface transition metal alloy modification. Guided by the density functional theory calculation, the Nb doping can move up the Fermi energy level to the conduction band, thus enhancing the electronic conductivity. Meanwhile, the surface modification by Ni/Co alloy can moderate the surface M–H affinity, which will further enhance the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) activity. A series of Ni/Co alloy attached on Nb‐doped Ti3 C2 T x MXene nanohybrids (denoted as NiCo@NTM) are successfully prepared. As expected, the Ni0.9 Co0.1 @ NTM nanohybrids present an extraordinary HER activity in alkaline solution, which only needs an overpotential (η) of 43.4 mV to reach the current density of 10 mA cm −2 in 1m KOH solution and shows good stability. The performance of the Ni0.9 Co0.1 @ NTM nanohybrids is comparable to the commercial 10% Pt/C electrode (34.4 mV@10 mA cm −2 ) and is better than most state‐of‐the‐art Pt‐free HER catalysts. Inspired by the facile synthesis process and chemical versatility of both MXene and transition metal alloys, the nanohybrids reported here are promising non‐noble metal electrocatalysts for water–alkali electrolysis. Abstract : In this work, the theoretical calculation and experimental studies are presented to demonstrate the synergistic enhancement of the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) activity on Ti‐based MXene by Nb‐doping and surface Ni/Co alloy modification. The resulting nanohybrids show a comparable HER activity to the commercial 10% Pt/C catalyst in KOH solution, and indicates a promising non‐noble metal electrocatalyst for water‐alkali electrolysis.