School of Energy and Chemical Engineering/Center for Dimension-Controllable Organic Frameworks, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), 50 UNIST, Ulsan, 44919, Republic of Korea.
Department of Chemical Engineering, Wonkwang University, 460 Iksandae-ro, Iksan, Jeonbuk, 54538, Republic of Korea.
Adv Mater. 2018 Nov;30(44):e1803676. doi: 10.1002/adma.201803676. Epub 2018 Sep 14.
Catalysts are at the heart of the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) for the production of pure and clean hydrogen. For practical applications, the scalable synthesis of efficient HER catalysts, which work in both acidic and alkaline media, is highly desired. In this work, the mechanochemically assisted synthesis of a Ru catalyst with HER performance surpassing Pt in both acidic and alkaline media is reported. Mass production of this Ru catalyst can be achieved via a two-step procedure: the mechanochemical reaction between graphite and dry ice produces edge-carboxylic-acid-functionalized graphene nanoplatelets (CGnP); mixing a Ru precursor and the CGnP in an aqueous medium introduces Ru ions, which coordinate on the CGnP. Subsequent annealing results in uniform Ru nanoparticles (≈2 nm) anchored on the GnP matrix (Ru@GnP). The efficient Ru@GnP catalyst can be easily powered by a single silicon solar cell using a wireless integration device. The self-powered device exhibits robust hydrogen evolution under the irradiation of standard AM 1.5 solar light. This work provides a new opportunity for the low-cost mass production of efficient and stable catalysts for practical applications.
催化剂是析氢反应（HER）的核心，用于生产纯净清洁的氢气。对于实际应用，人们非常希望能够规模化合成在酸性和碱性介质中都具有高效 HER 催化性能的催化剂。在这项工作中，报道了一种通过机械化学辅助合成的 Ru 催化剂，其在酸性和碱性介质中的 HER 性能均超过了 Pt。通过两步法可以实现这种 Ru 催化剂的大规模生产：石墨和干冰之间的机械化学反应产生具有边缘羧酸官能团的石墨烯纳米片（CGnP）；将 Ru 前体和 CGnP 混合在水介质中，引入 Ru 离子，这些 Ru 离子与 CGnP 配位。随后的退火导致均匀的 Ru 纳米颗粒（≈2nm）锚定在 GnP 基体上（Ru@GnP）。高效的 Ru@GnP 催化剂可以使用无线集成设备由单个硅太阳能电池轻松驱动。自供电设备在标准 AM 1.5 太阳光照射下表现出稳定的高效析氢性能。这项工作为高效、稳定的催化剂的低成本规模化生产提供了新的机会，适用于实际应用。
