Inorganic doped libethenite nanoparticle clusters show high catalytic activity in hydrogen evolution reaction

A noble metal-free Na Al Si doped libethenite nanoparticle clusters were obtained by applying the method of hydrothermal synthesis. The Linear Sweep Voltammetry (LSV) curve of this nanoparticle cluster electrode shows that there is no noble metal in the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), and it still exhibits good catalytic activity. The catalytic activity of the libethenite nanoparticle cluster is further enhanced after reduction by the amperometric i-t curve method (A i-t C). The electrochemical performance and catalytic mechanism were investigated by the cyclic voltammetry (CV) method. The characterization analysis by XRD, SEM, TEM, EDS, and XPS found that the catalyst was isomorphous with the natural mineral libethenite, but different from the minerals with Cu and P as the main components in nature when the crystal synthesized under hydrothermal conditions was doped. The heterogenous libethenite nanoparticle cluster framework is replaced by more additional Na, Al, and Si elements. Cu and P elements in the libethenite nanoparticle cluster structure are connected through the mineral framework and uniformly distributed in the crystal structure. This structure increases the electrochemical activity of its HER. Due to the interaction of Cu and P, the catalyst exhibits good catalytic performance for HER under acidic conditions. The reduction by the electrochemical i-t curve reduces the consumption of Cu and enhances the stability of the mineral framework.