Zhang Tianzhu, Wu Jiliang, Chen Jinfan, Pan Qifa, Wang Xuefeng, Zhong Hang, Tao Ran, Yan Jun, Hu Yi, Ye Xiaoqiu, Chen Changan, Chen Jun
Science and Technology on Surface Physics and Chemistry Laboratory, Jiangyou 621908, China.
ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2021 Jun 2;13(21):24682-24691. doi: 10.1021/acsami.1c02646. Epub 2021 May 19.
Developing a high-performance nonprecious metal electrocatalyst for water splitting is a strong demand for the large-scale application of electrochemical H production. In this work, we design a facile and scalable strategy to activate titanium metal for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) in alkaline media through incorporating hydrogen into the α-Ti crystal lattice by H plasma bombardment. Benefiting from the accelerated charge transfer and enlarged electrochemical surface area after H plasma treatment, the H-incorporated Ti shows remarkably enhanced HER activity with a much lower overpotential at -10 mA cm by 276 mV when compared to the pristine Ti. It is revealed that the retention of the incorporated H(D) atoms in the Ti crystal lattice during HER accounts for the durable feature of the catalyst. Density functional theory calculations demonstrate the effectiveness of hydrogen incorporation in tuning the adsorption energy of reaction species via charge redistribution. Our work offers a novel route to activate titanium or other metals by H incorporation through a controllable H plasma treatment to tune the electronic structure for water splitting reactions.
开发一种用于水分解的高性能非贵金属电催化剂对于电化学制氢的大规模应用具有强烈需求。在这项工作中，我们设计了一种简便且可扩展的策略，通过氢等离子体轰击将氢掺入α-Ti晶格中，从而在碱性介质中激活钛金属以进行析氢反应（HER）。受益于氢等离子体处理后加速的电荷转移和增大的电化学表面积，与原始钛相比，掺入氢的钛在-10 mA cm²时具有显著增强的HER活性，过电位低276 mV。结果表明，在HER过程中，掺入的H（D）原子保留在Ti晶格中是催化剂具有耐久性的原因。密度泛函理论计算证明了通过电荷重新分布掺入氢在调节反应物种吸附能方面的有效性。我们的工作提供了一种新颖的途径，通过可控的氢等离子体处理掺入氢来激活钛或其他金属，以调整电子结构用于水分解反应。
