Toward design of synergistically active carbon-based catalysts for electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution.
Replacement of precious Pt catalyst with cost-effective alternatives would be significantly beneficial for hydrogen production via electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). All candidates thus far are exclusively metallic catalysts, which suffer inherent corrosion and oxidation susceptibility during acidic proton-exchange membrane electrolysis. Herein, based on theoretical predictions, we designed and synthesized nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) dual-doped graphene as a nonmetallic electrocatalyst for sustainable and efficient hydrogen production. The N and P heteroatoms could coactivate the adjacent C atom in the graphene matrix by affecting its valence orbital energy levels to induce a synergistically enhanced reactivity toward HER. As a result, the dual-doped graphene showed higher electrocatalytic HER activity than single-doped ones and comparable performance to some of the traditional metallic catalysts.
School of Chemical Engineering, The University of Adelaide , Adelaide, South Australia 5005, Australia.
Yao
Y
Zheng
Yan
Y
Jiao
Lu Hua
LH
Li
Tan
T
Xing
Ying
Y
Chen
Mietek
M
Jaroniec
Shi Zhang
SZ
Qiao