A Ta-TaS2 monolith catalyst with robust and metallic interface for superior hydrogen evolution

Qiangmin Yu; Zhiyuan Zhang; Siyao Qiu; Yuting Luo; Zhibo Liu; Fengning Yang; Heming Liu; Shiyu Ge; Xiaolong Zou; Baofu Ding; Wencai Ren; Hui-Ming Cheng; Chenghua Sun; Bilu Liu

doi:10.1038/s41467-021-26315-7

A Ta-TaS₂ monolith catalyst with robust and metallic interface for superior hydrogen evolution

Nat Commun. 2021 Oct 18;12(1):6051. doi: 10.1038/s41467-021-26315-7.

Authors

Qiangmin Yu¹, Zhiyuan Zhang¹, Siyao Qiu², Yuting Luo¹, Zhibo Liu³, Fengning Yang¹, Heming Liu¹, Shiyu Ge¹, Xiaolong Zou¹, Baofu Ding¹, Wencai Ren³, Hui-Ming Cheng^{1

3

4}, Chenghua Sun^{5

6}, Bilu Liu⁷

Affiliations

¹ Shenzhen Geim Graphene Center, Tsinghua-Berkeley Shenzhen Institute & Institute of Materials Research, Tsinghua Shenzhen International Graduate School, Tsinghua University, Shenzhen, 518055, P. R. China.
² College of Chemical Engineering and Energy Technology, Dongguan University of Technology, Dongguan, 523808, P. R. China.
³ Shenyang National Laboratory for Materials Sciences, Institute of Metal Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang, Liaoning, 110016, P. R. China.
⁴ Advanced Technology Institute, University of Surrey, Guildford, Surrey, GU27XH, UK.
⁵ College of Chemical Engineering and Energy Technology, Dongguan University of Technology, Dongguan, 523808, P. R. China. chenghuasun@swin.edu.au.
⁶ Department of Chemistry and Biotechnology, and Center for Translational Atomaterials, Swinburne University of Technology, Hawthorn, VIC, 3122, Australia. chenghuasun@swin.edu.au.
⁷ Shenzhen Geim Graphene Center, Tsinghua-Berkeley Shenzhen Institute & Institute of Materials Research, Tsinghua Shenzhen International Graduate School, Tsinghua University, Shenzhen, 518055, P. R. China. bilu.liu@sz.tsinghua.edu.cn.

Abstract

The use of highly-active and robust catalysts is crucial for producing green hydrogen by water electrolysis as we strive to achieve global carbon neutrality. Noble metals like platinum are currently used catalysts in industry for the hydrogen evolution, but suffer from scarcity, high price and unsatisfied performance and stability at large current density, restrict their large-scale implementations. Here we report the synthesis of a type of monolith catalyst consisting of a metal disulfide (e.g., tantalum sulfides) vertically bonded to a conductive substrate of the same metal tantalum by strong covalent bonds. These features give the monolith catalyst a mechanically-robust and electrically near-zero-resistance interface, leading to an excellent hydrogen evolution performance including rapid charge transfer and excellent durability, together with a low overpotential of 398 mV to achieve a current density of 2,000 mA cm^-2 as required by industry. The monolith catalyst has a negligible performance decay after 200 h operation at large current densities. In light of its robust and metallic interface and the various choices of metals giving the same structure, such monolith materials would have broad uses besides catalysis.