MOF-Derived Copper Selenides Implanted in Octahedral Carbon Matrix for Efficient Hydrogen Evolution Reaction

• Published in: Journal of the Electrochemical Society Vol. 170; no. 9; pp. 93503 - 93508
• Main Authors: Do, Ha Huu, Hui, Kwun Nam, Vu, Pham Gia, Hui, Kwan San, Dinh, Duc Anh
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: IOP Publishing 01.09.2023
• ISSN: 0013-4651; 1945-7111
• DOI: 10.1149/1945-7111/acf527

The development of durable, efficient catalysts is vital in electrochemical water dissociation. Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) based nanomaterials have been explored due to their well-distribution metal nodes and stability, but the shortage of efficient cathode compounds for electrochemical hydrogen evolving restricted their industrial applications. Herein, Cu 2 Se nanocrystals embedded in the octahedral carbon frameworks (Cu 2 Se/C) were fabricated using a copper-related MOF template through a one-step selenization technique. Interestingly, the catalytic efficacy of Cu 2 Se/C is better than that of Cu/C and Cu-MOF as catalysts for hydrogen generation in an acidic medium. In particular, Cu 2 Se/C shows a moderate overpotential of 220 mV at a current density of 10 mA cm −2 and a low Tafel slope of 54.5 mV dec −1 . Also, this catalyst presents outstanding durability with 2000 cycling operations and 12 h of testing by chronoamperometry. The high efficiency is assigned to the synergistic effect of Cu 2 Se nanoparticles and carbon frameworks, which play essential roles in increasing exposed catalytic sites and protected active centers. The results may open potential direction to prepare economical hydrogen-evolving electrocatalysts.