Issue 24, 2021

pH-dependent hydrogen evolution using spatially confined ruthenium on hollow N-doped carbon nanocages as a Mott–Schottky catalyst

Abstract

The hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is known to exhibit pH-dependent kinetics that worsens with increasing pH. However, the HER in alkaline media is an integral part of regenerative alkaline fuel cells. Herein, an in situ pyrolysis strategy is adopted to obtain Ru decorated hollow N-doped carbon matrix (Ru@NCN) for pH universal HER. The synthetic approach is an advancement over traditional routes that use corrosive etchants like HF to achieve a hollow morphology for the carbon support. Ru@NCN shows superior HER in alkaline and neutral media relative to commercial Pt/C. To reach a current density of 10 mA cm−2, Ru@NCN required overpotentials of 36, 49, and 76 mV in alkaline, acidic, and neutral media, respectively. A correlation between the change in overpotential of Pt/C and Ru@NCN and pH is demonstrated. Additionally, the Mott–Schottky effect is observed at the metal/semiconductor (Ru/N-doped carbon) interface allowing facile electron transfer. It is envisioned that this report will provide a new direction to design hollow carbon nanostructures with an enhanced metal-support synergistic effect beneficial for sustainable energy conversion.

Graphical abstract: pH-dependent hydrogen evolution using spatially confined ruthenium on hollow N-doped carbon nanocages as a Mott–Schottky catalyst

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
22 3月 2021
Accepted
17 5月 2021
First published
18 5月 2021

J. Mater. Chem. A, 2021,9, 13958-13966

pH-dependent hydrogen evolution using spatially confined ruthenium on hollow N-doped carbon nanocages as a Mott–Schottky catalyst

B. Sarkar, D. Das and K. K. Nanda, J. Mater. Chem. A, 2021, 9, 13958 DOI: 10.1039/D1TA02375F

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements