Fabrication of mesoporous CrTe supported on graphitic carbon nitride as an efficient electrocatalyst for water oxidation

It is essential to produce oxygen evolution reaction (OER) electrocatalysts, which are active and enduring for water electrolyzers. In order to create the effective OER, new chromium telluride/graphitic carbon nitride (gCN/CrTe) is produced via simple hydrothermal method. In this case, catalyst super hydrophilic surface is developed by the addition of 10% gCN nanosheets that can optimize the revelation of active sites and encourage the mass dispersion. Due to the robust contact among CrTe and gCN, which causes a lattice strain and an increase in the electron density around Cr sites, regulating the bonding between the catalyst and chemical intermediates. The improved 10% gCN/CrTe nanocomposite offers not only a good endurance but also by the highest mass activity. The synthesized 10% gCN/CrTe electrocatalysts provided low overpotential around 187 mV for OER to achieve a current density of 10 mA/cm2 in alkaline media with 51.0 h of long durability. Paving the way for innovative applications, this will enable the manipulation of advanced materials' fundamental properties at the atomic scale. The synthesized composite material shows lower overpotential of 187 mV as well as lower Tafel slope value than the individual materials. It also shows excellent stability, which makes it suitable as electrocatalyst for water splitting.image

Automated summary

Via a simple hydrothermal method, a new chromium telluride/graphitic carbon nitride (gCN/CrTe) composite material is synthesized, which exhibits both activity and endurance for oxygen evolution reaction (OER). The addition of 10% gCN nanosheets creates a super hydrophilic surface for the catalyst, optimizing the exposure of active sites and promoting mass dispersion. The synthesized 10% gCN/CrTe nanocomposite shows excellent durability and the highest mass activity, with a low overpotential of 187 mV for OER and a long durability of 51.0 hours at a current density of 10 mA/cm2 in alkaline media.