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Title: Composition-Dependent Electrocatalytic Activity of Zn-Doped Ni 5 P 4 Nanocrystals for the Hydrogen Evolution Reaction
Electrocatalytic water splitting presents an exciting opportunity to produce environmentally benign hydrogen fuel to power human activities. Earth abundant Ni5P4 has emerged as an efficient catalyst for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and its activity can be enhanced by admixing synergistic metals to modify the surface affinity and consequently kinetics of HER. Computational studies suggest that the HER activity of Ni5P4 can be improved by Zn doping, causing a chemical pressure-like effect on Ni3 hollow sites. Herein, we report a facile colloidal route to produce Ni5-xZnxP4 nanocrystals (NCs) with control over structure, morphology, and composition and investigate their composition-dependent HER activity in alkaline solutions. Ni5-xZnxP4 NCs retain the hexagonal structure and solid spherical morphology of binary Ni5P4 NCs with a notable size increase from 9.2-28.5 nm for x = 0.00-1.27 compositions. Elemental maps affirm the homogeneous ternary alloy formation with no evidence of Zn segregation. Surface analysis of Ni5-xZnxP4 NCs indicates significant modulation of the surface polarization upon Zn incorporation resulting in a decrease in Niδ+ and an increase in Pδ- charge. Although all compositions followed a Volmer-Heyrovsky HER mechanism, the modulated surface polarization enhances the reaction kinetics producing lower Tafel slopes for Ni5-xZnxP4 NCs (82.5-101.9 mV/dec for x = 0.10-0.84) compared to binary Ni5P4 NCs (109.9 mV/dec). Ni5-xZnxP4 NCs showed higher HER activity with overpotentials of 131.6-193.8 mV for x = 0.02-0.84 in comparison to Ni5P4 NCs (218.1 mV) at a current density of -10 mA/cm2. Alloying with Zn increases the material’s stability with only a ~10% increase in overpotential for Ni4.49Zn0.51P4 NCs at -50 mA/cm2, whereas a ~33% increase was observed for Ni5P4 NCs. At current densities above -40 mA/cm2, bimetallic NCs with x = 0.10, 0.29, and 0.51 compositions outperformed the benchmark Pt/C catalyst, suggesting that hexagonal alloyed Ni5-xZnxP4 NCs are excellent candidates for practical applications that necessitate lower HER overpotentials at higher current densities.  more » « less
Award ID(s):
2154747
PAR ID:
10521688
Author(s) / Creator(s):
; ; ;
Publisher / Repository:
American Chemical Society
Date Published:
Journal Name:
Chemistry of Materials
Volume:
35
Issue:
17
ISSN:
0897-4756
Page Range / eLocation ID:
6966 to 6978
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
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