Nanostructured Pine-Like Platinum on Self-Supported Substrates for Robust Hydrogen Evolution Reaction

Abstract

Sustainable electrocatalytic hydrogen production is a vital method for producing clean energy. However, the current platinum catalysts are costly and complicated to prepare with low catalytic activity. To obtain efficient catalysts, a facile method with a rational electrode design is essential to improve platinum activity and stability, facilitating the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Herein, we fabricated a self-supported HER composite electrode with abundant platinum activity sites by a simple metal−organic chemical vapor deposition, and nanostructured pine-like platinum was supported on carbon cloth (Pt/CC). Benefiting from the nanostructured pine-like platinum geometry, fast charge transfer, and good structure stability, this Pt/CC composite electrode exhibited excellent HER electrocatalytic activity. For HER, this electrode achieved a low overpotential of only 17.6 mV at 10 mA cm −2 in 1 M KOH. Moreover, Pt/CC exhibits long-term electrochemical durability, maintaining its catalytic activity for more than 30 h. What is more, this strategy can also be used on other self-supported substrates, e.g., nickel foam, to achieve high electrocatalytic activity. Thus, this work provides a simple and versatile method for the preparation of efficient HER catalysts.

Thermal evaporation-driven fabrication of Ru/RuO2 nanoparticles onto nickel foam for efficient overall water splitting

“…In contrast, the thermal evaporation method has stood out as a promising alternative because it can eliminate the need for solvents, surfactants and reducing agents. 30–32…”

A Nickel-Doped Two-Dimensional Covalent Organic Polymer (2D-COP) for Electrocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution Reaction

“…In recent decades, there has been exploration into the development of platinum-free metal-based catalysts, such as transition metal oxides, carbides, , nitrides, sulfides, selenides, phosphides, , and hydroxides. , Unfortunately, many of these catalysts exhibit high onset overpotentials (η), Tafel slopes, and poor reliability. Consequently, research groups are actively developing catalysts employing metal-containing and metal-free materials and complexes as electro- and photocatalysts to reduce water to produce molecular hydrogen. − Parameters such as oxidation and reduction sites, redox potentials, and electronic structures play crucial roles in the development of more efficient catalysts for H 2 evolution. These catalysts improve electron transfer by lowering the energy gap, hence enhancing their catalytic performance.…”

Pt nanoparticles anchored by oxygen vacancies in MXenes for efficient electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction

“…13,14 In all monometallic catalysts, Pt exhibits moderate hydrogen adsorption energy and has been considered as the most attractive HER electrocatalyst in acidic media, while its large-scale application is constrained by the restricted storage and expensive cost of Pt. 15–17 Therefore, it is still a pressing challenge to improve the utilization rate of Pt on the premise of maintaining the efficiency for hydrogen production.…”