TY - JOUR
T1 - Ultrafine WC nanoparticles anchored on co-encased, N-doped carbon nanotubes for efficient hydrogen evolution
AU - Ma, Ruguang
AU - Song, Erhong
AU - Zhou, Yao
AU - Zhou, Zhenzhen
AU - Liu, Guanghui
AU - Liu, Qian
AU - Liu, Jianjun
AU - Zhu, Yufang
AU - Wang, Jiacheng
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2016
PY - 2017/1/1
Y1 - 2017/1/1
N2 - The high-activity electrocatalysts for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) are highly desired to replace precious Pt, but difficult to achieve. Herein, we report the loading of ultrafine tungsten carbide (WC) nanoparticles (NPs) on cobalt-embedded, bamboo-like, nitrogen-doped carbon nanotubes (WC/Co@NCNTs) with high-level N doping via a one-step strategy, leading to a desirable multicomponent nanocomposite with superior activity and stability when used as the HER electrocatalyst. The optimized WC/Co@NCNTs showed a very low onset overpotential (Uonset) of ~18 mV, a small Tafel slope of 52 mV dec−1, a small η10 of only 98 mV to reach a current of 10 mA cm−2, and a large exchange current density (j0) of 0.103 mA cm−2, which also retained its high activity for at least 12.5 h operation in acidic electrolyte. The DFT calculations revealed an important role of the N dopants in the HER as well as a favorable ΔGH* for the adsorption and desorption of hydrogen derived from the synergistic effects between WC NPs and Co@NCNTs.
AB - The high-activity electrocatalysts for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) are highly desired to replace precious Pt, but difficult to achieve. Herein, we report the loading of ultrafine tungsten carbide (WC) nanoparticles (NPs) on cobalt-embedded, bamboo-like, nitrogen-doped carbon nanotubes (WC/Co@NCNTs) with high-level N doping via a one-step strategy, leading to a desirable multicomponent nanocomposite with superior activity and stability when used as the HER electrocatalyst. The optimized WC/Co@NCNTs showed a very low onset overpotential (Uonset) of ~18 mV, a small Tafel slope of 52 mV dec−1, a small η10 of only 98 mV to reach a current of 10 mA cm−2, and a large exchange current density (j0) of 0.103 mA cm−2, which also retained its high activity for at least 12.5 h operation in acidic electrolyte. The DFT calculations revealed an important role of the N dopants in the HER as well as a favorable ΔGH* for the adsorption and desorption of hydrogen derived from the synergistic effects between WC NPs and Co@NCNTs.
KW - Carbon nanotubes
KW - Density functional theory
KW - Hydrogen evolution reaction
KW - Synergistic effects
KW - Tungsten carbide
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84994259895&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.ensm.2016.10.006
DO - 10.1016/j.ensm.2016.10.006
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84994259895
SN - 2405-8297
VL - 6
SP - 104
EP - 111
JO - Energy Storage Materials
JF - Energy Storage Materials
ER -
