Modulating proton binding energy on the tungsten carbide nanowires surfaces for boosting hydrogen evolution in acid
| Autor: | Honghao Chu, Haibiao Chen, Wenju Ren, Zongwei Mei, Kuangda Xu, Shisheng Zheng, Qingshui Hong, Feng Pan, Tangyi Li |
|---|---|
| Rok vydání: | 2021 |
| Předmět: |
Materials science
Proton binding Nanowire Energy Engineering and Power Technology chemistry.chemical_element 02 engineering and technology Tungsten 010402 general chemistry 021001 nanoscience & nanotechnology 01 natural sciences 0104 chemical sciences Carbide Nanomaterials Catalysis chemistry.chemical_compound Fuel Technology chemistry Chemical engineering Tungsten carbide Electrochemistry 0210 nano-technology Energy (miscellaneous) Hydrogen production |
| Zdroj: | Journal of Energy Chemistry. 62:610-616 |
| ISSN: | 2095-4956 |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.jechem.2021.04.004 |
| Popis: | Tungsten carbides have attracted wide attentions as Pt substitute electrocatalysts for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), due to their good stability in an acid environment and Pt-like behaviour in hydrolysis. However, quantum chemistry calculations predict that the strong tungsten-hydrogen bonding hinders hydrogen desorption and restricts the overall catalytic activity. Synergistic modulation of host and guest electronic interaction can change the local work function of a compound, and therefore, improve its electrocatalytic activity over either of the elements individually. Herein, we develop a creative and facile solid-state approach to synthesize self-supported carbon-encapsulated single-phase WC hybrid nanowires arrays (nanoarrays) as HER catalyst. The theoretical calculations reveal that carbon encapsulation modifies the Gibbs free energy of H* values for the WC adsorption sites, endowing a more favorable C@WC active site for HER. The experimental results exhibit that the hybrid WC nanoarrays possess remarkable Pt-like catalytic behavior, with superior activity and stability in an acidic media, which can be compared to the best non-noble metal catalysts reported to date for hydrogen evolution reaction. The present results and the facile synthesis method open up an exciting avenue for developing cost-effective catalysts with controllable morphology and functionality for scalable hydrogen generation and other carbide nanomaterials applicable to a range of electrocatalytic reactions. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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