Implanting isolated Ru atoms into edge-rich carbon matrix for efficient electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution

Although the maximized dispersion of metal atoms has been realized in the single-atom catalysts, further improving the intrinsic activity of the catalysts is of vital importance. Here, the decoration of isolated Ru atoms into an edge-rich carbon matrix is reported for the electrocatalytic hydrogen e...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Zhang, Huabin, Zhou, Wei, Lu, Xue Feng, Chen, Tao, Lou, David Xiong Wen
Other Authors: School of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: 2021
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10356/147969
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Institution: Nanyang Technological University
Language: English
Description
Summary:Although the maximized dispersion of metal atoms has been realized in the single-atom catalysts, further improving the intrinsic activity of the catalysts is of vital importance. Here, the decoration of isolated Ru atoms into an edge-rich carbon matrix is reported for the electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction. The developed catalyst displays high catalytic performance with low overpotentials of 63 and 102 mV for achieving the current densities of 10 and 50 mA cm , respectively. Its mass activity is about 9.6 times higher than that of the commercial Pt/C-20% catalyst at an overpotential of 100 mV. Experimental results and density functional theory calculations suggest that the edges in the carbon matrix enhance the local electric field at the Ru site and accelerate the reaction kinetics for the hydrogen evolution. The present work may provide insights into electrocatalytic behavior and guide the design of advanced electrocatalysts.