Modulation of the Cobalt Content in Ti3C2Tx by Molten Salt Method for Hydrogen Evolution Reaction

Abstract Exploring non-noble catalysts with highly-efficient activity to replace noble metal is a problem that needs to be solved in electrocatalytic water spliting. Herein, Ti3C2Tx MXene with different functional groups was prepared. The results showed that the substitution of F by Cl terminal groups can improve the electrocatalytic activity in hydrogen evolution reaction. Further introduction of Co on the surface of Ti3C2Tx MXene can largely reduced the overpotential from 542 to 318 mV at 10 mA cm-2, which can be attributed to the Ti-O-Co bond to accelerate the electron/ion migration. The content of Co in Ti3C2Tx could be modulated by simply changing the etching time. This work suggests that Co anchored on Ti3C2Tx helps to promote the hydrogen production process.