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Cobalt doping boosted electrocatalytic activity of CaMn3O6 for hydrogen evolution reaction

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Abstract

The development of earth-abundant-metal-based electrocatalysts with high efficiency and long-term stability for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is crucial for the clean and renewable energy application. Herein, we report a molten-salt method to synthesize Co-doped CaMn3O6 (CMO) nanowires (NWs) as effective electrocatalyst for HER. The as-obtained CaMn3−xCoxO6 (CMCO) exhibits a small onset overpotential of 70 mV, a required overpotential of 140 mV at a current density of 10 mA·cm−2, a Tafel slope of 39 mV·dec−1 in 0.1 M HClO4, and a satisfying long-term stability. Experimental characterizations combined with density functional theory (DFT) calculations demonstrate that the obtained HER performance can be attributed to the Co-doping which altered CMO’ s surface electronic structures and properties. Considering the simplicity of synthesis route and the abundance of the pertinent elements, the synthesized CMCO shows a promising prospect as a candidate for the development of earth-abundant, metal-based, and cost-effective electrocatalyst with superior HER activity. Our results also establish a strategy of rational design and construction of novel electrocatalyst toward HER by tailoring band structures of transition metal oxides (TMOs).

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Acknowledgements

This work was financially supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (No. 2020YFB2008502), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 51972124, 51872101, 51902115, and 12172143) and the Innovation Fund of Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics (WNLO). We wish to thank the facility support of the Center for Nanoscale Characterization & Devices, WNLO of Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST), and the Analytical and Testing Center of HUST.

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    Authors and Affiliations

    1. Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430074, China

      Qun Li, Kaisi Liu, Jiabin Wu, Hongrun Jin, Zhimi Hu, Wenxi Liang & Liang Huang

    2. China-Australia Institute for Advanced Materials and Manufacturing, Jiaxing University, Jiaxing, 314001, China

      Zaifang Li

    3. State Key Laboratory of Material Processing and Die & Mold Technology, Department of Mechanics, School of Aerospace Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430074, China

      Siwei Gui, Xiaogang Li & Hui Yang

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    1. Qun Li
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    Li, Q., Liu, K., Gui, S. et al. Cobalt doping boosted electrocatalytic activity of CaMn3O6 for hydrogen evolution reaction. Nano Res. 15, 2870–2876 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-021-3879-9

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