The
hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) from the electrocatalysis
of water splitting is the most promising approach to producing green
and renewable hydrogen energy for sustainable development. The precious
metal platinum is the best electrocatalyst for HER. However, its scarcity
and high cost still hinder the large-scale application. It is highly
desirable to fabricate efficient Pt electrocatalysts with low Pt loading.
Herein, we report an efficient ultralow Pt-loading HER catalyst, which
was obtained by the electroreduction of a preprepared supramolecular
self-assembly. Utilizing the strong hydrogen bonding formation ability
of macrocyclic cucurbit[8]uril (CB[8]), a porous supramolecule (CB[8]-[PtCl6]) composed of [PtCl6]2– and
CB[8] is obtained as the HER catalyst precursor. By the electroreduction
of the as-prepared supramolecular compound, Pt nanoparticles (NPs)
protected by CB[8] (CB[8]-Pt) exhibit high catalytic activity and
excellent long-term stability toward HER with ultralow Pt loading.
CB[8]-Pt with a Pt loading of only 1.2 μg/cm2 presents
23 times higher HER activity than commercial Pt/C. Moreover, CB[8]-Pt
shows excellent stability under 10 000-cycle cyclic voltammetry
(CV) and at least 120 h for chronopotentiometry at 10 mA/cm2 in 0.5 M H2SO4, which greatly outperforms
commercial Pt/C. This work provides a strategy for the rational design
of ultralow-loading Pt catalysts with good activity and stability
for hydrogen production.
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