Ternary FexCo1-xP Nanowire Array as a Robust Hydrogen Evolution Reaction Electrocatalyst with Pt-like Activity: Experimental and Theoretical Insight

Chun Tang; Linfeng Gan; Rong Zhang; Wenbo Lu; Xiue Jiang; Abdullah M Asiri; Xuping Sun; Jin Wang; Liang Chen

doi:10.1021/acs.nanolett.6b03332

Ternary Fe_xCo_1-xP Nanowire Array as a Robust Hydrogen Evolution Reaction Electrocatalyst with Pt-like Activity: Experimental and Theoretical Insight

Nano Lett. 2016 Oct 12;16(10):6617-6621. doi: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.6b03332. Epub 2016 Sep 27.

Authors

Chun Tang¹, Linfeng Gan², Rong Zhang¹, Wenbo Lu¹, Xiue Jiang², Abdullah M Asiri³, Xuping Sun¹, Jin Wang^{2

4}, Liang Chen⁵

Affiliations

¹ College of Chemistry, Sichuan University , Chengdu 610064, Sichuan China.
² State Key Laboratory of Electroanalytical Chemistry, Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences , Changchun 130022, Jilin, China.
³ Chemistry Department, King Abdulaziz University , Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia.
⁴ Department of Chemistry and Physics, State University of New York at Stony Brook , New York, New York 11794-3400, United States.
⁵ Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences , Ningbo 315201, Zhejiang, China.

PMID: 27676264
DOI: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.6b03332

Abstract

Replacement of precious Pt with earth-abundant electrocatalysts for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) holds great promise for clean energy devices, but the development of low-cost and durable HER catalysts with Pt-like activity is still a huge challenge. In this communication, we report on the development of self-standing ternary Fe_xCo_1-xP nanowire array on carbon cloth (Fe_xCo_1-xP/CC) as a Pt-free HER catalyst with activities being strongly related to Fe substitution ratio. Electrochemical tests show that Fe_0.5Co_0.5P/CC not only possesses Pt-like activity with the need of overpotential of only 37 mV to drive 10 mA cm^-2, outperforming all non-noble-metal HER catalysts reported to date, but demonstrates superior long-term durability in 0.5 M H₂SO₄. Density functional theory calculations further reveal that Fe substitution of Co in CoP leads to more optimal free energy of hydrogen adsorption to the catalyst surface. This study offers us a promising flexible monolithic catalyst for practical applications.

Keywords: CoP; Ternary; density functional theory; electrocatalyst; hydrogen evolution reaction.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't