Borophene Nanosheets as High-Efficiency Catalysts for the Hydrogen Evolution Reaction

Borophene has been predicted to have outstanding catalytic activity owing to its extreme electron deficiency and abundant active sites. However, no experimental results have been still reported for borophene application in high-efficiency catalysis. Here, a borophene nanosheet was prepared on a carbon cloth surface via chemical vapor deposition. The boron source is sodium borohydride and the carrier gas is hydrogen gas. The crystal structure of the borophene nanosheet highly matches that of a theoretical alpha'-borophene nanosheet. Borophene shows good electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) ability with a 69 mV/dec Tafel slope and good cycling stability in a 0.5 M H2SO4 solution. The enhanced performance is ascribed to an abundant electrocatalytic active area and low resistance of charge transfer, which results from its rich surface active sites. The improvement has been revealed by first-principles calculations, which is originated from their inherent metallicity and abundant electrocatalytic active sites on the nanosheets' surface. Borophene's extraordinarily high activity and stability give rise to extensive investigation of the application of borophene in high-efficiency energy applications such as catalysts and batteries.

Automated summary

Borophene exhibits excellent catalytic properties, with good electrocatalytic ability and stability, making it suitable for applications such as hydrogen evolution.