Journal article
Encased Copper Boosts the Electrocatalytic Activity of N-Doped Carbon Nanotubes for Hydrogen Evolution
Yun Zhang, Yuling Ma, Yu-Yun Chen, Lu Zhao, Lin-Bo Huang, Hao Luo, Wen-Jie Jiang, Xing Zhang, Shuai Niu, Daojiang Gao, Jian Bi, Guangyin Fan, Jin-Song Hu
ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES | AMER CHEMICAL SOC | Published : 2017
Abstract
Nitrogen (N)-doped carbons combined with transition-metal nanoparticles are attractive as alternatives to the state-of-the-art precious metal catalysts for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Herein, we demonstrate a strategy for fabricating three-dimensional (3D) Cu-encased N-doped carbon nanotube arrays which are directly grown on Cu foam (Cu@NC NT/CF) as a new efficient HER electrocatalyst. Cu nanoparticles are encased here instead of common transition metals (Fe, Co, or Ni) for pursuing a well-controllable morphology and an excellent activity by taking advantage of its more stable nature at high temperature and in acidic or alkaline electrolyte. It is discovered that metallic Cu exhibits ..
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Awarded by National Key Research and Development Program of China
Awarded by National Key Project on Basic Research
Awarded by National Natural Science Foundation of China
Awarded by Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences
Awarded by Sichuan Youth Science and Technology Foundation
Awarded by Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences (BNLMS)
Funding Acknowledgements
This work was financially supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2016YFB0101200), the National Key Project on Basic Research (2015CB932302), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (21773263, 91645123, and 21573249), the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (XDB12020100), the Sichuan Youth Science and Technology Foundation (2016JQ0052), as well as by the Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences (BNLMS, 20160106). The authors also thank Dr. Yang Sun at the Center for Analysis and Testing, ICCAS, for her help in the XRD analysis.