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Vol. 14 (2022)

Inner Co Synergizing Outer Ru Supported on Carbon Nanotubes for Efficient pH-Universal Hydrogen Evolution Catalysis

https://doi.org/10.1007/s40820-022-00933-2
Jian Chen
Institute of Science and Technology for New Energy, Xi’an Technological University, Xi’an 710021, People’s Republic of China
Yuan Ha
School of Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology, Xidian University, Xi’an 710126, People’s Republic of China
Ruirui Wang
Department of Materials Science, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, People’s Republic of China
Yanxia Liu
Institute of Science and Technology for New Energy, Xi’an Technological University, Xi’an 710021, People’s Republic of China
Hongbin Xu
Department of Materials Science, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, People’s Republic of China
Bin Shang
State Key Laboratory of New Textile Materials and Advanced Processing Technologies, Wuhan Textile University, Wuhan 430073, People’s Republic of China
Renbing Wu
Department of Materials Science, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, People’s Republic of China
Hongge Pan
Institute of Science and Technology for New Energy, Xi’an Technological University, Xi’an 710021, People’s Republic of China

Corresponding Author: Hongge Pan

honggepan@zju.edu.cn

Nano-Micro Letters, Vol. 14 (2022), Article Number: 186

Abstract

Exploring highly active but inexpensive electrocatalysts for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is of critical importance for hydrogen production from electrochemical water splitting. Herein, we report a multicomponent catalyst with exceptional activity and durability for HER, in which cobalt nanoparticles were in-situ confined inside bamboo-like carbon nanotubes (CNTs) while ultralow ruthenium loading (~ 2.6 µg per electrode area ~ cm−2) is uniformly deposited on their exterior walls (Co@CNTsǀRu). The atomic-scale structural investigations and theoretical calculations indicate that the confined inner Co and loaded outer Ru would induce charge redistribution and a synergistic electron coupling, not only optimizing the adsorption energy of H intermediates (ΔGH*) but also facilitating the electron/mass transfer. The as-developed Co@CNTsǀRu composite catalyst requires overpotentials of only 10, 32, and 63 mV to afford a current density of 10 mA cm−2 in alkaline, acidic and neutral media, respectively, representing top-level catalytic activity among all reported HER catalysts. The current work may open a new insight into the rational design of carbon-supported metal catalysts for practical applications.


Highlights:


1 A multicomponent Co@CNTs|Ru catalyst has been rationally designed, in which Co nanoparticles are in-situ confined inside CNTs while trace Ru loading is uniformly deposited on their exterior walls.
2 Co and Ru nanoparticles spatially confined by the inner and outer surface of CNTs, respectively, would induce charge redistribution and a synergistic electron coupling.
3 Co@CNTs|Ru catalyst exhibits an unprecedented hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) activity in all pH-range, representing a new record among all the previously reported HER catalysts.

Keywords

Cobalt nanoparticles Carbon nanotubes Ru nanoclusters Hydrogen evolution reaction
Chen, Jian, Yuan Ha, Ruirui Wang, Yanxia Liu, Hongbin Xu, Bin Shang, Renbing Wu, and Hongge Pan. 2022. “Inner Co Synergizing Outer Ru Supported on Carbon Nanotubes for Efficient PH-Universal Hydrogen Evolution Catalysis”. Nano-Micro Letters 14 (September):186. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40820-022-00933-2.
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