Ultrafine VN nanodots induced generation of abundant cobalt single-atom active sites on nitrogen-doped carbon nanotube for efficient hydrogen evolution

Yan Cheng, Juhui Gong, Bo Cao, Xuan Xu, Peng Jing, Shien-Ping Feng, Rui Cheng, Baocang Liu*, Rui Gao*, Jun Zhang*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Journal Publications and ReviewsRGC 21 - Publication in refereed journalpeer-review

20 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Development of highly active and stable non-noble electrocatalysts with well-defined nanostructures is crucial for efficient hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Herein, a novel three-dimensional (3D) self-supported electrode consists of vanadium nitride (VN) nanodots and Co nanoparticles co-embedded and highly active single Co atoms anchored in N-doped carbon nanotubes supported on carbon cloth (VN-Co@CoSAs-NCNTs/CC) is fabricated via a one-step in situ nanoconfined pyrolysis strategy, which shows remarkable enhanced HER electrocatalytic activity in acidic medium. During pyrolysis, the formed VN nanodots induce the generation of atomic CoNx sites in NCNTs, contributing to superior electrocatalytic activity. Experimental and density functional theory (DFT) calculation results reveal that the electrode has multiple accessible active sites, fast reaction kinetics, low charge/mass transfer resistances, high conductivity, as well as downshifted d-band center with a thermodynamically favorable hydrogen adsorption free energy (ΔGH*), all of which greatly boost the HER performance. As a result, the VN-Co@CoSAs-NCNTs/CC electrode displays superb catalytic performance toward HER with a low overpotential of 29 mV at 10 mA cm−2 in acidic medium, which could maintain for at least 60 h of stable performance. This work opens a facile avenue to explore low-cost, high performance, but inexpensive metals/nitrogen-doped carbon composite electrocatalysts for HER.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)646-657
JournalJournal of Energy Chemistry
Volume68
Online published3 Dec 2021
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - May 2022
Externally publishedYes

Research Keywords

  • Cobalt nanoparticles
  • Hydrogen evolution reaction
  • Nitrogen-doped carbon nanotubes
  • Single cobalt atoms
  • Vanadium nitride nanodots

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