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Ruthenium-cobalt nanoalloys encapsulated in nitrogen-doped graphene as active electrocatalysts for producing hydrogen in alkaline media

Author

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  • Jianwei Su

    (Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Science at Microscale, University of Science and Technology of China)

  • Yang Yang

    (Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Science at Microscale, University of Science and Technology of China)

  • Guoliang Xia

    (Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Science at Microscale, University of Science and Technology of China)

  • Jitang Chen

    (Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Science at Microscale, University of Science and Technology of China)

  • Peng Jiang

    (Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Science at Microscale, University of Science and Technology of China)

  • Qianwang Chen

    (Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Science at Microscale, University of Science and Technology of China
    High Magnetic Field Laboratory, Hefei Institutes of Physical Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences)

Abstract

The scalable production of hydrogen could conveniently be realized by alkaline water electrolysis. Currently, the major challenge confronting hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is lacking inexpensive alternatives to platinum-based electrocatalysts. Here we report a high-efficient and stable electrocatalyst composed of ruthenium and cobalt bimetallic nanoalloy encapsulated in nitrogen-doped graphene layers. The catalysts display remarkable performance with low overpotentials of only 28 and 218 mV at 10 and 100 mA cm−2, respectively, and excellent stability of 10,000 cycles. Ruthenium is the cheapest platinum-group metal and its amount in the catalyst is only 3.58 wt.%, showing the catalyst high activity at a very competitive price. Density functional theory calculations reveal that the introduction of ruthenium atoms into cobalt core can improve the efficiency of electron transfer from alloy core to graphene shell, beneficial for enhancing carbon–hydrogen bond, thereby lowing ΔGH* of HER.

Suggested Citation

  • Jianwei Su & Yang Yang & Guoliang Xia & Jitang Chen & Peng Jiang & Qianwang Chen, 2017. "Ruthenium-cobalt nanoalloys encapsulated in nitrogen-doped graphene as active electrocatalysts for producing hydrogen in alkaline media," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 8(1), pages 1-12, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:8:y:2017:i:1:d:10.1038_ncomms14969
    DOI: 10.1038/ncomms14969
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    Cited by:

    1. Cen, Jianmei & Jiang, Enjun & Zhu, Yuqing & Chen, Zhenyu & Tsiakaras, Panagiotis & Shen, Pei Kang, 2021. "Enhanced electrocatalytic overall water splitting over novel one-pot synthesized Ru–MoO3-x and Fe3O4–NiFe layered double hydroxide on Ni foam," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 177(C), pages 1346-1355.
    2. Min Xu & Jinjun Qu & Mai Li, 2022. "National Policies, Recent Research Hotspots, and Application of Sustainable Energy: Case of China, USA, and European Countries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(16), pages 1-30, August.
    3. Jie Dai & Yinlong Zhu & Yu Chen & Xue Wen & Mingce Long & Xinhao Wu & Zhiwei Hu & Daqin Guan & Xixi Wang & Chuan Zhou & Qian Lin & Yifei Sun & Shih-Chang Weng & Huanting Wang & Wei Zhou & Zongping Sha, 2022. "Hydrogen spillover in complex oxide multifunctional sites improves acidic hydrogen evolution electrocatalysis," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-10, December.
    4. Cao, Baoyue & Shi, Hu & Sun, Qiangqiang & Yu, Yan & Chang, Liangliang & Xu, Shan & Zhou, Chunsheng & Zhang, Hongxia & Zhao, Jianghong & Zhu, Yanyan & Yang, Pengju, 2023. "Electron deficiency modulates hydrogen adsorption strength of Ru single-atomic catalyst for efficient hydrogen evolution," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 210(C), pages 258-268.

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