Reduced graphene oxide supported Co3W and WN hybrid as high performance electrocatalyst for hydrogen evolution reaction

• Published in: Fuel (Guildford) 2025-02, Vol.381, p.133389, Article 133389
• Main Authors: Huang, Yimeng, Zhang, Xuanhao, Ji, Xiang, Yu, Jiemei, Zhang, Haizhou, Ma, Xiaochun, Zhou, Xiaoming, Ding, Zhanyu, Huang, Taizhong
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Electrocatalyst; Hydrogen evolution reaction; Synergistic effect; Tungsten cobalt alloy; Tungsten nitride
• ISSN: 0016-2361
• DOI: 10.1016/j.fuel.2024.133389

[Display omitted] •Hybrid of Co3W and WN enhances the catalytic activity for HER.•Synergistic effect of Co3W and WN enhances electrocatalytic performance for HER.•Hybrid of alloy and metal nitride can be high performance catalyst for HER.•Co3W-WN/rGO-1-800 in 0.1 M KOH has smaller overpotential at 60 mA/cm2 than Pt/C. Hydrogen, as the most environment-friendly fuel, is believed as the eventual energy for human beings. The produce, storage and transportation of hydrogen are crucial technologies for the large-scale applications of hydrogen. Electrolysis is one of the most feasible way to produce hydrogen despite the shortage of low-cost and high-performance catalysts. Developing high cost-effective non-precious metal-based electrocatalysts for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is crucial for the production of hydrogen. In this paper, reduced graphene oxide (rGO) supported cobalt-doped tungsten nitride (Co-WN/rGO), tungsten-cobalt alloy and tungsten nitride hybrid (Co3W-WN/rGO) were prepared by hydrothermal followed with nitridation treatment method. XRD, SEM and XPS tests show that the Co3W-WN hybrids are uniformly dispersed on the rGO support. HRTEM clearly proved the coexistence of Co3W and WN on rGO. Electrocatalytic performance tests of Co-WN/rGO and Co3W-WN/rGO show that the overpotential of Co3W-WN/rGO-1-800 catalyzed HER is lower than that of 20 wt% Pt/C in 0.1 M KOH solution at current density of 60 mA/cm2. In addition, in 0.5 M H2SO4 solution, the overpotential of Co3W-WN/rGO-1-800 catalyzed HER is only 83 mV higher than that of the Pt/C catalyst at the current density of 300 mA/cm2. The high catalytic performance should be attributed to the synergistic effect between Co3W and WN. The results of the paper provide a novel strategy to design high performance transition metal-based catalysts for HER and give a new insight into the catalytic mechanism.