Highly efficient hydrogen evolution reaction of Co3O4 supports on N-doped carbon nanotubes in an alkaline solution

• Published in: Ionics Vol. 26; no. 7; pp. 3437 - 3446
• Main Authors: Jiang, Jibo, Chen, Yukai, Cong, Haishan, Tang, Jiabin, Sun, Yaoxin, Hu, Xiaomin, Wang, Lulu, Han, Sheng, Lin, Hualin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.07.2020; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Carbon nanotubes; Catalysts; Chemical synthesis; Chemistry; Chemistry and Materials Science; Cobalt oxides; Condensed Matter Physics; Electrochemistry; Energy Storage; High temperature; Hydrogen; Hydrogen evolution reactions; Noble metals; Optical and Electronic Materials; Original Paper; Platinum; Raw materials; Renewable and Green Energy; Hydrogen evolution reaction; Electrocatalytic; Alkaline solution; Co; O
• ISSN: 0947-7047; 1862-0760
• DOI: 10.1007/s11581-019-03435-1

Platinum group compounds are currently the best performance hydrogen evolution catalysts, but their high price and low abundance limit their large-scale applications. Therefore, noble-metal-free catalysts have become a focus in the research of hydrogen evolution reactions (HER). In this work, we developed a noble-metal-free HER catalyst consisting of Co 3 O 4 supported on N-doped carbon nanotubes (Co 3 O 4 -NCTs). The Co 3 O 4 -NCT catalyst synthesized by stirring, heating, and high-temperature calcination was studied, showing a very low Tafel plot (32.3 mV dec −1 ) in an alkaline solution and good stability for hydrogen evolution reactions. In addition, the material synthesis method is simple, the experimental raw materials are cheap and easy to obtain, and it is expected to be suitable for large-scale industrial production.