In situ synthesis of a nickel boron oxide/graphdiyne hybrid for enhanced photo/electrocatalytic H2 evolution

• Published in: Chinese journal of catalysis Vol. 42; no. 8; pp. 1379 - 1386
• Main Authors: Yin, Xue-Peng, Luo, Shu-Wen, Tang, Shang-Feng, Lu, Xiu-Li, Lu, Tong-Bu
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 01.08.2021
• Subjects: Graphdiyne; H2 evolution; Hybrid material; Photo/electrocatalyst; Water splitting reaction; Photo/electrocatalyst; Water splitting reaction; Graphdiyne; H2 evolution; Hybrid material
• ISSN: 1872-2067; 1872-2067
• DOI: 10.1016/S1872-2067(20)63601-4

Developing highly active catalysts for photo/electrocatalytic water splitting is an attractive strategy to produce H2 as a renewable energy source. In this study, a new nickel boron oxide/graphdiyne (NiBi/GDY) hybrid catalyst was prepared by a facile synthetic approach. Benefitting from the strong electron donating ability of graphdiyne, NiBi/GDY showed an optimized electronic structure containing lower valence nickel atoms and demonstrated improved catalytic performance. As expected, NiBi/GDY displayed a high photocatalytic H2 evolution rate of 4.54 mmol g−1 h−1, 2.9 and 4.5 times higher than those of NiBi/graphene and NiBi, respectively. NiBi/GDY also displayed outstanding electrocatalytic H2 evolution activity in 1.0 M KOH solution, with a current density of 400 mA/cm2 at an overpotential of 478.0 mV, which is lower than that of commercial Pt/C (505.3 mV@400 mA/cm2). This work demonstrates that GDY is an ideal support for the development of highly active catalysts for photo/electrocatalytic H2 evolution. A new nickel boron oxide/graphdiyne (NiBi/GDY) hybrid is synthesized by a facile room-temperature synthesis approach and shows outstanding photocatalytic and electrocatalytic H2 evolution activities.