Crystal Facet Engineering of Single‐Crystalline TiC Nanocubes for Improved Hydrogen Evolution Reaction

Abstract

Single‐crystalline {100} faceted TiC is of great significance in theory to a large number of engineering applications owing to its extraordinary catalytic properties. However, the {111} planes are prevalent in conventional TiC powders given their favorable thermodynamic stability during the initial low stoichiometric growth stage. Herein, a disproportionation–decomposition strategy is developed to directly produce Ti and C atoms to synthesize single‐crystalline {100} faceted TiC powders. Outstanding electrochemical performance of TiC {100} crystal planes in terms of the hydrogen evolution reaction is evidenced by an overpotential of 392 mV at 10 mA cm−2, which is 52% lower than that of randomly faceted TiC counterparts (815 mV).

Ultrahigh Mass Activity for the Hydrogen Evolution Reaction by Anchoring Platinum Single Atoms on Active {100} Facets of TiC via Cation Defect Engineering

“…The parent TiC nano-cubes with a dense and smooth surface (Figure 2a; Figure S1, Supporting Information) were fabricated based on our previous report. [39] The aberration-corrected high-angle annular dark-field (HAADF) scanning-transmission electron microscopy (STEM) image of a TiC nano-cube (Figure 2b) showed a typical square array, and the d-spacing was measured to be ≈2.2 Å, confirming the exposure of {100} crystal planes of TiC. No Ti vacancies (Figure 2c) were observed in the parent TiC as the intensity profiles of the Ti atom arrays were almost the same.…”

Recent advances in cobalt-based catalysts for efficient electrochemical hydrogen evolution: a review

“…The larger the surface area, the larger the contact area between the catalyst and water, which is more conducive to the generation of hydrogen; meanwhile, the active sites of hydrogen evolution are also more easily exposed on the surface of the material. 96,97 (2) Smaller resistance or suitable charge transfer channels. They will reduce the electrochemical kinetics and thus improve the electrochemical performance.…”

Design Strategies for Large Current Density Hydrogen Evolution Reaction

“…High intrinsic activity is a prerequisite for high-current HER catalysts, which requires structural design at the atomic scale to tune the local electronic structure (Yu et al, 2021). To enhance the intrinsic activity, various strategies have been explored, such as phase engineering (Tran et al, 2016;Yao et al, 2021a), crystal facet engineering (Xi et al, 2021;Song et al, 2021), defect engineering (Ye et al, 2016;Yin et al, 2016), and polymetallic engineering Kumar et al, 2021). Wang and coworkers reported a strategy for achieving phosphate substitution and subsequent stabilization of the crystalline phase of metastable β-NiMoO 4 (Figure 2B) Wang et al (2021c).…”