TY - JOUR
T1 - Wrinkled Rh
2
P Nanosheets as Superior pH-Universal Electrocatalysts for Hydrogen Evolution Catalysis
AU - Wang, Kai
AU - Huang, Bolong
AU - Lin, Fei
AU - Lv, Fan
AU - Luo, Minchuan
AU - Zhou, Peng
AU - Liu, Qiao
AU - Zhang, Weiyu
AU - Yang, Chao
AU - Tang, Yonghua
AU - Yang, Yong
AU - Wang, Wei
AU - Wang, Hao
AU - Guo, Shaojun
PY - 2018/9/25
Y1 - 2018/9/25
N2 -
Searching for highly efficient and durable electrocatalysts for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) that function effectively at all pHs is of great interest to the scientific community, however it is still a grand challenge, because the HER kinetics of Pt in alkaline solutions are approximately two to three orders of magnitude lower than that in acidic solution. Herein, a new class of wrinkled, ultrathin Rh
2
P nanosheets for enhancing HER catalysis at all pHs is reported. They exhibit a small overpotential of 18.3 mV at 10 mA cm
−2
, low Tafel slope of 61.5 mV dec
−1
, and good durability in alkaline media, much better than the commercial Pt/C catalyst. Density functional theory calculations reveal that the active open-shell effect from the P-3p band not only promotes Rh-4d for increased proton–electron charge exchange but also provides excellent p–p overlapping to locate the O-related species as distributary center, which can benefit the HER process in alkaline media. It is also demonstrated that the present wrinkled, ultrathin Rh
2
P nanosheets are highly efficient and durable electrocatalysts toward HER in both acid and neutral electrolytes. The present work opens a new material design for ultrathin 2D metal phosphide nanostructures for the purpose of boosting HER performance at all pHs.
AB -
Searching for highly efficient and durable electrocatalysts for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) that function effectively at all pHs is of great interest to the scientific community, however it is still a grand challenge, because the HER kinetics of Pt in alkaline solutions are approximately two to three orders of magnitude lower than that in acidic solution. Herein, a new class of wrinkled, ultrathin Rh
2
P nanosheets for enhancing HER catalysis at all pHs is reported. They exhibit a small overpotential of 18.3 mV at 10 mA cm
−2
, low Tafel slope of 61.5 mV dec
−1
, and good durability in alkaline media, much better than the commercial Pt/C catalyst. Density functional theory calculations reveal that the active open-shell effect from the P-3p band not only promotes Rh-4d for increased proton–electron charge exchange but also provides excellent p–p overlapping to locate the O-related species as distributary center, which can benefit the HER process in alkaline media. It is also demonstrated that the present wrinkled, ultrathin Rh
2
P nanosheets are highly efficient and durable electrocatalysts toward HER in both acid and neutral electrolytes. The present work opens a new material design for ultrathin 2D metal phosphide nanostructures for the purpose of boosting HER performance at all pHs.
KW - 2D
KW - heterogeneous catalysts
KW - hydrogen evolution reaction
KW - metal phosphides
KW - wrinkled structure
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85052453384&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1002/aenm.201801891
DO - 10.1002/aenm.201801891
M3 - Journal article
AN - SCOPUS:85052453384
SN - 1614-6832
VL - 8
JO - Advanced Energy Materials
JF - Advanced Energy Materials
IS - 27
M1 - 1801891
ER -