Supporting nickel on vanadium nitride for comparable hydrogen evolution performance to platinum in alkaline solution

Hangjia Shen; Shuqin Liang; Samira Adimi; Xuyun Guo; Ye Zhu; Haichuan Guo; Tiju Thomas; J. Paul Attfield; Minghui Yang

doi:10.1039/d1ta02760c

Supporting nickel on vanadium nitride for comparable hydrogen evolution performance to platinum in alkaline solution

Hangjia Shen, Shuqin Liang, Samira Adimi, Xuyun Guo, Ye Zhu, Haichuan Guo, Tiju Thomas, J. Paul Attfield, Minghui Yang

Research output: Journal article publication › Journal article › Academic research › peer-review

25 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is an effective means to producing hydrogen from electrolytic water splitting. However the best-performing catalysts use expensive Pt-group metals. Cheaper non-precious metal alternatives have shown low activity as their mechanism of H₂formation (Volmer-Heyrovsky) leads to high overpotentials. Here, we report an outstanding HER catalyst (Ni/VN) highly dispersed nickel supported on vanadium nitride that matches the turnover frequency of the platinum on carbon (Pt/C) benchmark material. It is more durable than Pt/C in alkaline solution. Ni/VN follows the low-overpotential (Volmer-Tafel) mechanism of H₂formation, with a 43 mV overpotential at a current density of 10 mA cm⁻². This value is even below that of Pt/C (57 mV). The support of VN enhances the dispersion of nickel, weakens the surface oxidation, decreases the hydrogen binding energy, and therefore significantly improves the HER catalysis. This result removes one of the major barriers for scalability of electrolytic water-splitting by demonstrating that nitride-based materials can match and even surpass the efficiency and durability of precious metal catalysts.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	19669-19674
Number of pages	6
Journal	Journal of Materials Chemistry A
Volume	9
Issue number	35
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1039/d1ta02760c
Publication status	Published - 27 May 2021

ASJC Scopus subject areas

General Chemistry
Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment
General Materials Science

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10.1039/d1ta02760c

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title = "Supporting nickel on vanadium nitride for comparable hydrogen evolution performance to platinum in alkaline solution",

abstract = "The hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is an effective means to producing hydrogen from electrolytic water splitting. However the best-performing catalysts use expensive Pt-group metals. Cheaper non-precious metal alternatives have shown low activity as their mechanism of H2formation (Volmer-Heyrovsky) leads to high overpotentials. Here, we report an outstanding HER catalyst (Ni/VN) highly dispersed nickel supported on vanadium nitride that matches the turnover frequency of the platinum on carbon (Pt/C) benchmark material. It is more durable than Pt/C in alkaline solution. Ni/VN follows the low-overpotential (Volmer-Tafel) mechanism of H2formation, with a 43 mV overpotential at a current density of 10 mA cm−2. This value is even below that of Pt/C (57 mV). The support of VN enhances the dispersion of nickel, weakens the surface oxidation, decreases the hydrogen binding energy, and therefore significantly improves the HER catalysis. This result removes one of the major barriers for scalability of electrolytic water-splitting by demonstrating that nitride-based materials can match and even surpass the efficiency and durability of precious metal catalysts.",

author = "Hangjia Shen and Shuqin Liang and Samira Adimi and Xuyun Guo and Ye Zhu and Haichuan Guo and Tiju Thomas and Attfield, {J. Paul} and Minghui Yang",

note = "Funding Information: This work was supported by the National Key Research and Development Plan (Grant No. 2016YFB0101205), China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (2019M652155) and Opened Fund of the State Key Laboratory on Integrated Optoelectronics (No. IOSKL2017KF08). M. Yang appreciates the support from the Ningbo 3315 program. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} The Royal Society of Chemistry 2021.",

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AU - Shen, Hangjia

AU - Liang, Shuqin

AU - Adimi, Samira

AU - Guo, Xuyun

AU - Zhu, Ye

AU - Guo, Haichuan

AU - Thomas, Tiju

AU - Attfield, J. Paul

AU - Yang, Minghui

N1 - Funding Information: This work was supported by the National Key Research and Development Plan (Grant No. 2016YFB0101205), China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (2019M652155) and Opened Fund of the State Key Laboratory on Integrated Optoelectronics (No. IOSKL2017KF08). M. Yang appreciates the support from the Ningbo 3315 program. Publisher Copyright: © The Royal Society of Chemistry 2021.

PY - 2021/5/27

Y1 - 2021/5/27

N2 - The hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is an effective means to producing hydrogen from electrolytic water splitting. However the best-performing catalysts use expensive Pt-group metals. Cheaper non-precious metal alternatives have shown low activity as their mechanism of H2formation (Volmer-Heyrovsky) leads to high overpotentials. Here, we report an outstanding HER catalyst (Ni/VN) highly dispersed nickel supported on vanadium nitride that matches the turnover frequency of the platinum on carbon (Pt/C) benchmark material. It is more durable than Pt/C in alkaline solution. Ni/VN follows the low-overpotential (Volmer-Tafel) mechanism of H2formation, with a 43 mV overpotential at a current density of 10 mA cm−2. This value is even below that of Pt/C (57 mV). The support of VN enhances the dispersion of nickel, weakens the surface oxidation, decreases the hydrogen binding energy, and therefore significantly improves the HER catalysis. This result removes one of the major barriers for scalability of electrolytic water-splitting by demonstrating that nitride-based materials can match and even surpass the efficiency and durability of precious metal catalysts.

AB - The hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is an effective means to producing hydrogen from electrolytic water splitting. However the best-performing catalysts use expensive Pt-group metals. Cheaper non-precious metal alternatives have shown low activity as their mechanism of H2formation (Volmer-Heyrovsky) leads to high overpotentials. Here, we report an outstanding HER catalyst (Ni/VN) highly dispersed nickel supported on vanadium nitride that matches the turnover frequency of the platinum on carbon (Pt/C) benchmark material. It is more durable than Pt/C in alkaline solution. Ni/VN follows the low-overpotential (Volmer-Tafel) mechanism of H2formation, with a 43 mV overpotential at a current density of 10 mA cm−2. This value is even below that of Pt/C (57 mV). The support of VN enhances the dispersion of nickel, weakens the surface oxidation, decreases the hydrogen binding energy, and therefore significantly improves the HER catalysis. This result removes one of the major barriers for scalability of electrolytic water-splitting by demonstrating that nitride-based materials can match and even surpass the efficiency and durability of precious metal catalysts.

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Supporting nickel on vanadium nitride for comparable hydrogen evolution performance to platinum in alkaline solution

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