Cobalt and cobalt oxide supported on nitrogen-doped porous carbon as electrode materials for hydrogen evolution reaction.

Abstract A facile method is proposed to prepare cobalt supported on nitrogen-doped porous carbon material with high graphitization degree by using chitosan as carbon source, urea as soft template and poloxamer as dispersant. The prepared cobalt-carbon material (Co@NPC) shows that uniformly distributed cobalt nanoparticles are encapsulated in nitrogen-doped porous carbon bundle with large specific surface area. When Co@NPC is applied as electrode in hydrogen evolution reaction, it exhibits superior electrocatalytic performance with low overpotential (η 10 = 259 mV), small Tafel slope (99 mV dec−1) and high stability with 83% of its original current density remained after 6 h electrochemical test in 1 M potassium hydroxide electrolyte. Graphical abstract A facile method is proposed to prepare cobalt or cobalt oxide supported on nitrogen-doped porous carbon material, exhibiting superior electrochemical performance for hydrogen evolution reaction. Image 1 Highlights • A facile method is reported for preparing Co/N-doped porous carbon bundles (Co/NPC). • The effect of urea as soft template on surface structure of NPC is clearly revealed. • Co/NPC exhibits superior electrocatalytic performance for hydrogen evolution. • Co in Co/NPC plays important role in the reaction of hydrogen evolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]