TY - JOUR
T1 - Ultrahigh-current-density niobium disulfide catalysts for hydrogen evolution
AU - Yang, Jieun
AU - Mohmad, Abdul Rahman
AU - Wang, Yan
AU - Fullon, Raymond
AU - Song, Xiuju
AU - Zhao, Fang
AU - Bozkurt, Ibrahim
AU - Augustin, Mathias
AU - Santos, Elton J.G.
AU - Shin, Hyeon Suk
AU - Zhang, Wenjing
AU - Voiry, Damien
AU - Jeong, Hu Young
AU - Chhowalla, Manish
N1 - Funding Information:
M.C. and J.Y. acknowledge financial support from AFOSR grant no. FA9550-16-1-0289. M.C. and Y.W. acknowledge support from NSF grant no. ECCS-1608389. M.C., W.Z. and X.S. acknowledge support from Shenzhen Peacock Plan (grant no. KQTD2016053112042971). M.C. and A.R.M. acknowledge financial support from the Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia. H.Y.J. acknowledges support from Creative Materials Discovery Programme through the National Research Foundation of Korea (grant no. NRF-2016M3D1A1900035). E.J.G.S. acknowledges the use of computational resources from the UK National High-performance Computing Service (ARCHER) for which access was obtained via the UKCP consortium (EPSRC grant no. EP/K013564/1), and the UK Materials and Molecular Modelling Hub for access to the THOMAS supercluster, which is partially funded by EPSRC (grant no. EP/P020194/1). The Queen’s Fellow Award through grant no. M8407MPH, the Enabling Fund (grant no. A5047TSL) and the Department for the Economy (grant no. USI 097) are also acknowledged by E.J.G.S.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2019, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited.
PY - 2019/12/1
Y1 - 2019/12/1
N2 - Metallic transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs)1–8 are good catalysts for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). The overpotential and Tafel slope values of metallic phases and edges9 of two-dimensional (2D) TMDs approach those of Pt. However, the overall current density of 2D TMD catalysts remains orders of magnitude lower (~10–100 mA cm−2) than industrial Pt and Ir electrolysers (>1,000 mA cm−2)10,11. Here, we report the synthesis of the metallic 2H phase of niobium disulfide with additional niobium (2H Nb1+xS2, where x is ~0.35)12 as a HER catalyst with current densities of >5,000 mA cm−2 at ~420 mV versus a reversible hydrogen electrode. We find the exchange current density at 0 V for 2H Nb1.35S2 to be ~0.8 mA cm−2, corresponding to a turnover frequency of ~0.2 s−1. We demonstrate an electrolyser based on a 2H Nb1+ xS2 cathode that can generate current densities of 1,000 mA cm−2. Our theoretical results reveal that 2H Nb1+ xS2 with Nb-terminated surface has free energy for hydrogen adsorption that is close to thermoneutral, facilitating HER. Therefore, 2H Nb1+ xS2 could be a viable catalyst for practical electrolysers.
AB - Metallic transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs)1–8 are good catalysts for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). The overpotential and Tafel slope values of metallic phases and edges9 of two-dimensional (2D) TMDs approach those of Pt. However, the overall current density of 2D TMD catalysts remains orders of magnitude lower (~10–100 mA cm−2) than industrial Pt and Ir electrolysers (>1,000 mA cm−2)10,11. Here, we report the synthesis of the metallic 2H phase of niobium disulfide with additional niobium (2H Nb1+xS2, where x is ~0.35)12 as a HER catalyst with current densities of >5,000 mA cm−2 at ~420 mV versus a reversible hydrogen electrode. We find the exchange current density at 0 V for 2H Nb1.35S2 to be ~0.8 mA cm−2, corresponding to a turnover frequency of ~0.2 s−1. We demonstrate an electrolyser based on a 2H Nb1+ xS2 cathode that can generate current densities of 1,000 mA cm−2. Our theoretical results reveal that 2H Nb1+ xS2 with Nb-terminated surface has free energy for hydrogen adsorption that is close to thermoneutral, facilitating HER. Therefore, 2H Nb1+ xS2 could be a viable catalyst for practical electrolysers.
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U2 - 10.1038/s41563-019-0463-8
DO - 10.1038/s41563-019-0463-8
M3 - Article
C2 - 31451781
AN - SCOPUS:85071226256
VL - 18
SP - 1309
EP - 1314
JO - Nature Materials
JF - Nature Materials
SN - 1476-1122
IS - 12
ER -