MOF-Directed Construction of Cu-Carbon and Cu@N-Doped Carbon as Superior Supports of Metal Nanoparticles toward Efficient Hydrogen Generation

Yali Han; Yuan Meng; Yan Guo; Peilin Jia; Guofang Huang; Xiaojun Gu

doi:10.1021/acsami.1c15117

MOF-Directed Construction of Cu-Carbon and Cu@N-Doped Carbon as Superior Supports of Metal Nanoparticles toward Efficient Hydrogen Generation

ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2021 Nov 10;13(44):52921-52930. doi: 10.1021/acsami.1c15117. Epub 2021 Oct 29.

Authors

Yali Han¹, Yuan Meng¹, Yan Guo¹, Peilin Jia¹, Guofang Huang¹, Xiaojun Gu¹

Affiliation

¹ Inner Mongolia Key Laboratory of Coal Chemistry, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Inner Mongolia University, Hohhot 010021, China.

PMID: 34714623
DOI: 10.1021/acsami.1c15117

Abstract

The modulation of electronic behavior of metal-based catalysts is vital to optimize their catalytic performance. Herein, metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are pyrolyzed to afford a series of different-structured Cu-carbon composites and Cu@N-doped carbon composites. Then a series of CO-resistant catalysts, namely, Co or Ni nanoparticles supported by the Cu-based composites, are synthesized for the hydrogen generation from aqueous NH₃BH₃. Their catalytic activities are boosted under light irradiation and regulated by the compositions and the fine structures of doped N species with pyridine, pyrrole, and graphitic configurations in the composite supports. Particularly, the optimized Co-based catalyst with the highest graphitic N content exhibits a high activity, achieving a total turnover frequency (TOF) value of 210 min^-1, which is higher than all the reported unprecious catalysts. Further investigations verify that the light-driven synergistic electron effect of plasmonic Cu-based composites and Co nanoparticles accounts for the high-performance hydrogen generation.

Keywords: hydrogen generation; metal nanoparticles; metal−organic framework; nitrogen-doped carbon; synergistic electron effect.