Nanolaminated Ternary Transition Metal Carbide (MAX Phase)-Derived Core-Shell Structure Electrocatalysts for Hydrogen Evolution and Oxygen Evolution Reactions in Alkaline Electrolytes

Youbing Li; Shuairu Zhu; Erxiao Wu; Haoming Ding; Jun Lu; Xulin Mu; Lu Chen; Yiming Zhang; Justinas Palisaitis; Ke Chen; Mian Li; Pengfei Yan; Per O Å Persson; Lars Hultman; Per Eklund; Shiyu Du; Yongbo Kuang; Zhifang Chai; Qing Huang

doi:10.1021/acs.jpclett.2c03230

Nanolaminated Ternary Transition Metal Carbide (MAX Phase)-Derived Core-Shell Structure Electrocatalysts for Hydrogen Evolution and Oxygen Evolution Reactions in Alkaline Electrolytes

J Phys Chem Lett. 2023 Jan 19;14(2):481-488. doi: 10.1021/acs.jpclett.2c03230. Epub 2023 Jan 10.

Authors

Youbing Li^{1

2}, Shuairu Zhu^{1

3}, Erxiao Wu^{1

2}, Haoming Ding^{1

2}, Jun Lu⁴, Xulin Mu⁵, Lu Chen^{1

2}, Yiming Zhang^{1

2}, Justinas Palisaitis⁴, Ke Chen^{1

2}, Mian Li^{1

2}, Pengfei Yan⁵, Per O Å Persson⁴, Lars Hultman⁴, Per Eklund⁴, Shiyu Du^{1

2}, Yongbo Kuang^{1

6}, Zhifang Chai^{1

2}, Qing Huang^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Engineering Laboratory of Advanced Energy Materials, Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Ningbo, Zhejiang315201, China.
² Qianwan Institute of CNiTECH, Ningbo315336, China.
³ Zhejiang Institute of Tianjin University, 85 Zhongguan West Road, Ningbo, Zhejiang315201, China.
⁴ Department of Physics, Chemistry, and Biology (IFM), Linköping University, Linköping58183, Sweden.
⁵ Beijing Key Laboratory of Microstructure and Properties of Solids, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing100124, China.
⁶ Center of Materials Science and Optoelectronics Engineering, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, 19(A) Yuquan Road, Beijing100049, China.

PMID: 36625782
DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpclett.2c03230

Abstract

The development of abundant, cheap, and highly active catalysts for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is important for hydrogen production. Nanolaminate ternary transition metal carbides (MAX phases) and their derived two-dimensional transition metal carbides (MXenes) have attracted considerable interest for electrocatalyst applications. Herein, four new MAX@MXene core-shell structures (Ta₂CoC@Ta₂CT_x, Ta₂NiC@Ta₂CT_x, Nb₂CoC@Nb₂CT_x, and Nb₂NiC@Nb₂CT_x), in which the core region is Co/Ni-MAX phases while the edge region is MXenes, have been prepared. Under alkaline electrolyte conditions, the Ta₂CoC@Ta₂CT_x core-shell structure showed an overpotential of 239 mV and excellent stability during the HER with MXenes as the active sites. For the OER, the Ta₂CoC@Ta₂CT_x core-shell structure showed an overpotential of 373 mV and a small Tafel plot (56 mV dec^-1), which maintained a bulk crystalline structure and generated Co-based oxyhydroxides that formed by surface reconstruction as active sites. Considering rich chemical compositions and structures of MAX phases, this work provides a new strategy for designing multifunctional electrocatalysts and also paves the way for further development of MAX phase-based materials for clean energy applications.