Cobalt Metal–Cobalt Carbide Composite Microspheres for Water Reduction Electrocatalysis
Abstract
Microspheres of cobalt metal–cobalt carbide (Co–CoxC, CoxC: Co2C and Co3C) composite with carbon shells were prepared via an OH–- and Cl–-assisted polyol method and explored for electrocatalytic activity and stability for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) in acidic media. From our transmission electron microscopy observations, the outermost surfaces of the as-prepared Co–CoxC composites were primarily covered with Co2C crystallites. Our best performing electrocatalyst exhibited superior HER activity with an overpotential of 78 mV to reach a current density of -10 mA·cm–2, a Tafel slope of 87.8 mV·dec–1, and 1 h of electrode durability. We show that this excellent HER performance is primarily due to the superior intrinsic activity of Co2C, as well as the high electrical conductivity resulting from the inclusion of cobalt metal and the presence of graphitic carbon shells in and on the composite, respectively. Using both computational and experimental approaches, we determine here that the carbon-rich cobalt carbide (Co2C) phase is more favorable for the HER than the carbon-poor phase (Co3C).
- Authors:
-
[1];
[1];
[2];
[3];
[1];
[1]
- Univ. of Texas, Austin, TX (United States)
- Univ. of Texas, Austin, TX (United States); Xiamen Univ. (China)
- Univ. of Texas, Austin, TX (United States); Central South Univ., Changsha (China)
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- Univ. of Texas, Austin, TX (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES); Welch Foundation; National Science Foundation (NSF)
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1617156
- Grant/Contract Number:
- SC0010576; F-1436; F-1841; CHE-1664941
- Resource Type:
- Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Name:
- ACS Applied Energy Materials
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Volume: 3; Journal Issue: 4; Journal ID: ISSN 2574-0962
- Publisher:
- American Chemical Society (ACS)
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY; electrocatalyst; hydrogen evolution; cobalt carbide; water splitting; polyol method
Citation Formats
Kawashima, Kenta, Shin, Kihyun, Wygant, Bryan R., Kim, Jun-Hyuk, Cao, Chi L., Lin, Jie, Son, Yoon Jun, Liu, Yang, Henkelman, Graeme, and Mullins, C. Buddie. Cobalt Metal–Cobalt Carbide Composite Microspheres for Water Reduction Electrocatalysis. United States: N. p., 2020.
Web. doi:10.1021/acsaem.0c00321.
Kawashima, Kenta, Shin, Kihyun, Wygant, Bryan R., Kim, Jun-Hyuk, Cao, Chi L., Lin, Jie, Son, Yoon Jun, Liu, Yang, Henkelman, Graeme, & Mullins, C. Buddie. Cobalt Metal–Cobalt Carbide Composite Microspheres for Water Reduction Electrocatalysis. United States. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsaem.0c00321
Kawashima, Kenta, Shin, Kihyun, Wygant, Bryan R., Kim, Jun-Hyuk, Cao, Chi L., Lin, Jie, Son, Yoon Jun, Liu, Yang, Henkelman, Graeme, and Mullins, C. Buddie. Thu .
"Cobalt Metal–Cobalt Carbide Composite Microspheres for Water Reduction Electrocatalysis". United States. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsaem.0c00321. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1617156.
@article{osti_1617156,
title = {Cobalt Metal–Cobalt Carbide Composite Microspheres for Water Reduction Electrocatalysis},
author = {Kawashima, Kenta and Shin, Kihyun and Wygant, Bryan R. and Kim, Jun-Hyuk and Cao, Chi L. and Lin, Jie and Son, Yoon Jun and Liu, Yang and Henkelman, Graeme and Mullins, C. Buddie},
abstractNote = {Microspheres of cobalt metal–cobalt carbide (Co–CoxC, CoxC: Co2C and Co3C) composite with carbon shells were prepared via an OH–- and Cl–-assisted polyol method and explored for electrocatalytic activity and stability for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) in acidic media. From our transmission electron microscopy observations, the outermost surfaces of the as-prepared Co–CoxC composites were primarily covered with Co2C crystallites. Our best performing electrocatalyst exhibited superior HER activity with an overpotential of 78 mV to reach a current density of -10 mA·cm–2, a Tafel slope of 87.8 mV·dec–1, and 1 h of electrode durability. We show that this excellent HER performance is primarily due to the superior intrinsic activity of Co2C, as well as the high electrical conductivity resulting from the inclusion of cobalt metal and the presence of graphitic carbon shells in and on the composite, respectively. Using both computational and experimental approaches, we determine here that the carbon-rich cobalt carbide (Co2C) phase is more favorable for the HER than the carbon-poor phase (Co3C).},
doi = {10.1021/acsaem.0c00321},
journal = {ACS Applied Energy Materials},
number = 4,
volume = 3,
place = {United States},
year = {Thu Mar 05 00:00:00 EST 2020},
month = {Thu Mar 05 00:00:00 EST 2020}
}
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