材料科学
电催化剂
X射线光电子能谱
催化作用
碳纳米管
过渡金属
纳米颗粒
纳米技术
可逆氢电极
电解质
化学工程
碳纤维
铜
纳米材料
兴奋剂
电极
电化学
复合材料
复合数
工作电极
化学
有机化学
冶金
物理化学
工程类
光电子学
作者
Yun Zhang,Yuling Ma,Yu‐Yun Chen,Lu Zhao,Lin‐Bo Huang,Hao Luo,Wenjie Jiang,Xing Zhang,Shuai Niu,Daojiang Gao,Jian Bi,Guangyin Fan,Jin‐Song Hu
标识
DOI:10.1021/acsami.7b11748
摘要
Nitrogen (N)-doped carbons combined with transition-metal nanoparticles are attractive as alternatives to the state-of-the-art precious metal catalysts for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Herein, we demonstrate a strategy for fabricating three-dimensional (3D) Cu-encased N-doped carbon nanotube arrays which are directly grown on Cu foam (Cu@NC NT/CF) as a new efficient HER electrocatalyst. Cu nanoparticles are encased here instead of common transition metals (Fe, Co, or Ni) for pursuing a well-controllable morphology and an excellent activity by taking advantage of its more stable nature at high temperature and in acidic or alkaline electrolyte. It is discovered that metallic Cu exhibits strong electronic modulation on N-doped carbon to boost its electrocatalytic activity for HER. Such a nanostructure not only offers plenty of accessible highly active sites but also provides a 3D conductive open network for fast electron/mass transfer and facilitates gas escape for prompt mass exchange. As a result, the Cu@NC NT/CF electrode exhibits superior HER performance and durability, outperforming most of the reported M@NC materials. Furthermore, the etching experiments together with X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis reveal that the electronic modulation from encased Cu significantly enhances the HER activity of N-doped carbon. These findings open up opportunities for exploring other Cu-based nanomaterials as efficient electrocatalysts and understanding their catalytic processes.
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