Cobalt-Nanocrystal-Assembled Hollow Nanoparticles for Electrocatalytic Hydrogen Generation from Neutral-pH Water

Bingrui Liu; Lin Zhang; Weilin Xiong; Mingming Ma

doi:10.1002/anie.201601367

Cobalt-Nanocrystal-Assembled Hollow Nanoparticles for Electrocatalytic Hydrogen Generation from Neutral-pH Water

Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2016 Jun 1;55(23):6725-9. doi: 10.1002/anie.201601367. Epub 2016 Apr 29.

Authors

Bingrui Liu¹, Lin Zhang¹, Weilin Xiong¹, Mingming Ma²

Affiliations

¹ CAS Key Laboratory of Soft Matter Chemistry, iChEM (Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Energy Materials), Department of Chemistry, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui, 230026, P.R. China.
² CAS Key Laboratory of Soft Matter Chemistry, iChEM (Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Energy Materials), Department of Chemistry, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui, 230026, P.R. China. mma@ustc.edu.cn.

PMID: 27125576
DOI: 10.1002/anie.201601367

Abstract

Highly active and stable electrocatalysts for hydrogen generation from neutral-pH water are highly desired, but very difficult to achieve. Herein we report a facile synthetic approach to cobalt nanocrystal assembled hollow nanoparticles (Co-HNP), which serve as an electrocatalyst for hydrogen generation from neutral-pH water. An electrode composed of Co-HNP on a carbon cloth (CC) produces cathodic current densities of 10 and 100 mA cm(-2) at overpotentials of -85 mV and -237 mV, respectively. The Co-HNP/CC electrode retains its high activity after 20 h hydrogen generation at a high current density of 150 mA cm(-2) , indicating the superior activity and stability of Co-HNP as electrocatalyst.

Keywords: cobalt; electrocatalysis; hollow nanostructures; nanocrystals; water splitting.

Publication types

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