A simple electrochemical method for conversion of Pt wires to Pt concave icosahedra and nanocubes on carbon paper for electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution

Abstract

In the controlled synthesis of noble metal nanostructures using wet-chemical methods, normally, metal salts/complexes are used as precursors, and surfactants/ ligands are used to tune/stabilize the morphology of nanostructures. Here, we develop a facile electrochemical method to directly convert Pt wires to Pt concave icosahedra and nanocubes on carbon paper through the linear sweep voltammetry in a classic three-electrode electrochemical cell. The Pt wire, carbon paper and Ag/AgCl (3 mol L −1 KCl) are used as the counter, working and reference electrodes, respectively. Impressively, the formed Pt nanostructures exhibit better electrocatalytic activity towards the hydrogen evolution compared to the commercial Pt/C catalyst. This work provides a simple and effective way for direct conversion of Pt wires into well-defined Pt nanocrystals with clean surface. We believe it can also be used for preparation of other metal nanocrystals, such as Au and Pd, from their bulk materials, which could exhibit various promising applications.

Designing Atomic Active Centers for Hydrogen Evolution Electrocatalysts

“…[19] At present, Pt-based nanomaterials are the most active catalysts and provide the maximum exchange current density for the HER. [20,21] Even an extremely low loading of Pt is active enough to facilitate the HER on the terawatt scale. [22] However,t he severe scarcity and the necessary mining of Pt result in it being expensive.A lthough catalysts such as phosphides, [23][24][25][26][27] carbides, [28][29][30][31][32] sulfides, [33][34][35][36][37][38] and others [39][40][41][42][43][44] have been exploited recently,t he outstanding properties of Pt/C have not been reached.…”

Hollow cobalt-nickel phosphide nanocages for efficient electrochemical overall water splitting

“…However, because of the sluggish reaction kinetics and non-negligible overpotential (η) for both hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) during water electrolysis [5][6][7][8], the large-scale H 2 preparation is seriously restricted, which has driven the exploration of high-efficiency electrocatalysts. Nowdays, the most widely used electrocatalysts for HER and OER are noble metals and their oxides, such as platium (Pt) [9,10], iridium (Ir) [11,12], iridium dioxide (IrO 2 ) [13,14] and ruthenium (Ru) [15][16][17]. Unfortunately, the scarcity and high-costs hinder their industrial applications.…”

Design aktiver atomarer Zentren für HER‐Elektrokatalysatoren

“…[19] Gegenwärtig repräsentieren platinbasierte Nanomaterialien die aktivsten Katalysatoren und liefern die grçßte Austauschstromdichte fürd ie HER. [20,21] Selbst mit einer extrem niedrigen Platinbeladung sind sie aktiv genug,u md ie HER im Te rawattbereich zu ermçglichen. [22] Die geringe Häufigkeit und die kostspielige Reindarstellung von Platin machen dieses jedoch sehr teuer.…”