CoRu/CNTs@Ti3C2 Nanocomposite for Highly Efficient and Stable Hydrogen Evolution Reaction

Cheap, stable, and efficient catalysts were a prerequisite for the large-scale application of hydrogen energy. Herein, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were utilized as the carbon source and compounded with Ti3C2 MXene sheets under liquid-phase conditions to fabricate the CNTs@Ti3C2 skeleton. Then, ruthenium (Ru) chloride and cobalt (Co) nitrate were introduced as the metal source and carbonized the mixture at high temperature to obtain carbon/MXene composites loaded with cobalt-ruthenium metal nanoparticles (CoRu/CNTs@Ti3C2). Thanks to the uniform dispersion of CoRu nanoparticles on the surface of the CNTs@ Ti3C2 skeleton, more catalytic active sites were exposed and that endowed the composite with excellent hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) performance. Therefore, the obtained CoRu/CNTs@Ti3C2 composite exhibited a relatively low HER overpotential (eta(10)) of 74 mV and a Tafel slope of 80 mV center dot dec(-1) under acidic electrolyte (0.5 M H2SO4) with stable electrochemical activity (only increased by similar to 10 mV after 3000 cycles testing). This work provided a feasible opportunity for the large-scale and low-cost production of stable and efficient catalysts for practical applications.

Automated summary

In this study, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were used as carbon source and combined with Ti3C2 MXene sheets under liquid-phase conditions to fabricate CNTs@Ti3C2 skeleton. Then, ruthenium (Ru) chloride and cobalt (Co) nitrate were introduced as metal source and carbonized the mixture at high temperature to obtain carbon/MXene composites loaded with cobalt-ruthenium metal nanoparticles (CoRu/CNTs@Ti3C2). The obtained composite exhibited excellent hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) performance, with low HER overpotential and stable electrochemical activity.