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Ruthenium-nickel-cobalt alloy nanoparticles embedded in hollow carbon microtubes as a bifunctional mosaic catalyst for overall water splitting.

Ruthenium-nickel-cobalt alloy nanoparticles embedded in hollow carbon microtubes as a bifunctional mosaic catalyst for overall water splitting.

Authors :
Xue Y
Yan Q
Bai X
Xu Y
Zhang X
Li Y
Zhu K
Ye K
Yan J
Cao D
Wang G
Source :
Journal of colloid and interface science [J Colloid Interface Sci] 2022 Apr 15; Vol. 612, pp. 710-721. Date of Electronic Publication: 2022 Jan 06.
Publication Year :
2022

Abstract

The development of efficient bifunctional catalysts for both hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is essential for reducing the cost of hydrogen production by water splitting. Herein, hollow microtubes composed of RuNi <subscript>1</subscript> Co <subscript>1</subscript> alloy nanoparticles uniformly embedded in the carbon matrix (RuNi <subscript>1</subscript> Co <subscript>1</subscript> @CMT) are prepared through a simple impregnation followed by reduction. Benefiting from the unique mosaic structure and the synergistic effect between Ru and NiCo, RuNi <subscript>1</subscript> Co <subscript>1</subscript> @CMT achieves more exposed active sites and improved reaction kinetics. As a consequence, RuNi <subscript>1</subscript> Co <subscript>1</subscript> @CMT exhibits considerable catalytic activities with the overpotentials of 78 mV for HER and 299 mV for OER at 10 mA cm <superscript>-2</superscript> in 1 M KOH. In addition, RuNi <subscript>1</subscript> Co <subscript>1</subscript> @CMT exhibits excellent stability for up to 30 h in both HER and OER processes at 20 mA cm <superscript>-2</superscript> , which is attributed to the protection of the RuNi <subscript>1</subscript> Co <subscript>1</subscript> alloy particles by the carbon layer. Furthermore, the assembled RuNi <subscript>1</subscript> Co <subscript>1</subscript> @CMT || RuNi <subscript>1</subscript> Co <subscript>1</subscript> @CMT overall water splitting system shows a cell voltage of 1.58 V at 10 mA cm <superscript>-2</superscript> . The density functional theory (DFT) calculations indicate that the addition of Ru can optimize the hydrogen adsorption free energy of Ni and Co sites. Finally, a solar panel-driven water splitting device is built, which can realize green and sustainable hydrogen production. The fabrication of RuNi <subscript>1</subscript> Co <subscript>1</subscript> @CMT provides a new way for the preparation of effective alloy nanomaterials for energy storage and conversion.<br />Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.<br /> (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
1095-7103
Volume :
612
Database :
MEDLINE
Journal :
Journal of colloid and interface science
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
35032926
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcis.2022.01.001