Issue 42, 2023

Mechanochemical one-pot synthesis of heterostructured pentlandite-carbon composites for the hydrogen evolution reaction

Abstract

We have utilized carbon sources as milling additives to enable a direct mechanochemical one-pot synthesis of Fe3Co3Ni3S8/carbon (Pn/C) materials using elemental reaction mixtures. The obtained Pn/C materials are thoroughly characterized and their carbon content could be adjusted up to 50 wt%. In addition to carbon black (CB) as an additive, Pn/C materials were produced using graphite, reduced graphene oxide (rGO), and carbon nanotubes (CNTs), which allows the overall physicochemical properties of materials for energy storage applications to be adjusted. By employing the Pn/C materials as electrocatalysts for the HER in a zero-gap proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolyzer, we were able to reach a current density of 1 A cm−2 at a cell potential as low as 2.12 V using Pn, which was synthesized with 25 wt% CB. Furthermore, electrolysis at an applied current density of 1 A cm−2 for 100 h displays a stable performance, thus providing a sustainable synthesis procedure for potential future energy storage applications. Herein, we show that catalyst supports play an important role in the overall performance.

Graphical abstract: Mechanochemical one-pot synthesis of heterostructured pentlandite-carbon composites for the hydrogen evolution reaction

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Article information

Article type
Edge Article
Submitted
29 Aug 2023
Accepted
19 Sep 2023
First published
29 Sep 2023
This article is Open Access

All publication charges for this article have been paid for by the Royal Society of Chemistry
Creative Commons BY license

Chem. Sci., 2023,14, 11790-11797

Mechanochemical one-pot synthesis of heterostructured pentlandite-carbon composites for the hydrogen evolution reaction

D. Tetzlaff, T. Rensch, L. Messing, P. Banke, S. Grätz, D. Siegmund, L. Borchardt and U. Apfel, Chem. Sci., 2023, 14, 11790 DOI: 10.1039/D3SC04542K

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications without requesting further permissions from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given.

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