Ultra-low cobalt loading on N-doped carbon nanosheets by polymer pyrolysis strategy for efficient electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution

• DOI: 10.1016/j.apsusc.2020.146239
• Publication Date: 2020-03-28T00:08:44Z
• Authors: Shuyi Li; Qiulan Zhou; Gang Yu; Zhiyou Lei; Zhen Liu; Qian Xu; Weijian Xu; Ruoxi Wu
• Keywords: 01 natural sciences; 7. Clean energy; 0104 chemical sciences

Abstract Electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is a promising way to obtain H2, which has been deemed an ideal alternative for fossil fuel because of its renewable and environmental-friendly benefits. Developing a simple and flexible strategy to synthesize non-noble metal HER catalysts to provide high performance is needed for commercial applications. Here, a cobalt, nitrogen co-doped carbon nanosheet catalyst (Co-N-C-Mel) is reported. The catalyst was obtained via pyrolysis of a coordination polymer, amidoxime polyacrylonitrile (aoPAN), coordinated by Co ions. Benefiting from the ultra-low Co loading (0.47 at%), the catalyst provides effective catalytic activity for HER. The overpotential is only 138 mV in 0.5 M sulfuric acid and 196 mV in 1 M potassium hydroxide at the current density of 10 mA/cm−2 (j = 10 mA cm−2). In addition, the Co-N-C-Mel catalyst is efficient and stable for 10000 s without obvious recession.