Iron Phthalocyanine/Two-Dimensional Metal-Organic Framework Composite Nanosheets for Enhanced Alkaline Hydrogen Evolution

Hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) in alkaline medium is currently under scientific spotlight for generating clean H-2 fuel from electrochemical water splitting. However, alkaline HER suffers from sluggish reaction kinetics because of the additional energy required for water dissociation from catalysts in contrast to acidic HER. Herein, we report the development of two-dimensional metal-organic framework (2D MOF) Ni-1,4-benzenedicarboxylic acid-based composite nanosheets for superior performance in HER electrocatalysis. Iron phthalocyanine (FePc) molecules are uniformly anchored on the ultrathin 2D Ni-MOF, showing a substantially increased current density, improved activity, and enhanced durability in alkaline HER. On account of the ultralarge specific surface of Ni-MOF and the coupling effects between FePc and 2D MOFs, the resultant nanosheet catalyst FePc@Ni-MOF exhibits a low overpotential (334 mV) and satisfactory long-term stability (10 h) at a current density of 10 mA.cm(-2), which outperform those of pristine FePc, Ni-MOF, and the counterpart FePc@bulk-MOF. This study provides new insights into the synthesis of robust MOF-based nanosheet composites with high performance in catalysis.

Automated summary

A study on the development of two-dimensional metal-organic framework (2D MOF) composite nanosheets for enhanced performance in alkaline hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) was reported. The nanosheets, consisting of ultrathin Ni-MOF with uniformly anchored FePc molecules, exhibited significantly increased current density, improved activity, and enhanced durability. The resulting nanosheet catalyst FePc@Ni-MOF demonstrated low overpotential and satisfactory long-term stability, outperforming pristine FePc, Ni-MOF, and a counterpart FePc@bulk-MOF.