Atomic cobalt on nitrogen-doped graphene for hydrogen generation.
Reduction of water to hydrogen through electrocatalysis holds great promise for clean energy, but its large-scale application relies on the development of inexpensive and efficient catalysts to replace precious platinum catalysts. Here we report an electrocatalyst for hydrogen generation based on very small amounts of cobalt dispersed as individual atoms on nitrogen-doped graphene. This catalyst is robust and highly active in aqueous media with very low overpotentials (30 mV). A variety of analytical techniques and electrochemical measurements suggest that the catalytically active sites are associated with the metal centres coordinated to nitrogen. This unusual atomic constitution of supported metals is suggestive of a new approach to preparing extremely efficient single-atom catalysts.
Department of Chemistry, Rice University, 6100 Main Street, Houston, Texas 77005, USA.
Huilong
H
Fei
Beijing Synchrotron Radiation Facility, Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
Juncai
http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8860-093X
J
Dong
Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Texas at San Antonio, One UTSA Circle, San Antonio, Texas 78249, USA.
M Josefina
MJ
Arellano-Jiménez
Department of Materials Science and NanoEngineering, Rice University, 6100 Main Street, Houston, Texas 77005, USA.
Gonglan
G
Ye
Department of Chemistry, Rice University, 6100 Main Street, Houston, Texas 77005, USA.
Nam
N
Dong Kim
Department of Chemistry, Rice University, 6100 Main Street, Houston, Texas 77005, USA.
Errol L G
EL
Samuel
Department of Chemistry, Rice University, 6100 Main Street, Houston, Texas 77005, USA.
Zhiwei
Z
Peng
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Houston, Houston, Texas 77204, USA.
Zhuan
Z
Zhu
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Houston, Houston, Texas 77204, USA.
Fan
F
Qin
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Houston, Houston, Texas 77204, USA.
Jiming
J
Bao
Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Texas at San Antonio, One UTSA Circle, San Antonio, Texas 78249, USA.
Miguel Jose
MJ
Yacaman
Department of Materials Science and NanoEngineering, Rice University, 6100 Main Street, Houston, Texas 77005, USA.
Pulickel M
PM
Ajayan
Beijing Synchrotron Radiation Facility, Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
Dongliang
D
Chen
Department of Chemistry, Rice University, 6100 Main Street, Houston, Texas 77005, USA.|Department of Materials Science and NanoEngineering, Rice University, 6100 Main Street, Houston, Texas 77005, USA.|Smalley Institute for Nanoscale Science and Technology, Rice University, 6100 Main Street, Houston, Texas 77005, USA.
James M
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8479-9328
JM
Tour
D002384:Catalysis; D003035:Cobalt / Q000737:chemistry*; D055664:Electrochemical Techniques; D006108:Graphite; D006859:Hydrogen / Q000737:chemistry*; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D036103:Nanotechnology; D009584:Nitrogen / Q000737:chemistry*; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction; D014867:Water / Q000737:chemistry*
D014867:Water; D003035:Cobalt; D006108:Graphite; D006859:Hydrogen; D009584:Nitrogen