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Updated: Feb 25, 2026

Synthesis of Metal Nanoparticles Supported on Carbon Nanotube with Doped Co and N Atoms and its Catalytic Applications in Hydrogen Production
Published on: December 6, 2021
Surfactant-Assisted Phase-Selective Synthesis of New Cobalt MOFs and Their Efficient Electrocatalytic Hydrogen
Ya-Pan Wu1,2, Wei Zhou1, Jun Zhao1
1College of Materials and Chemical Engineering, Hubei Provincial Collaborative Innovation Center for New Energy Microgrid, Key Laboratory of Inorganic Nonmetallic Crystalline and Energy Conversion Materials, China Three Gorges University, No. 8, Daxue Road, Yichang, 443002, China.
Abstract:
Reported herein are two new polymorphic Co-MOFs (CTGU-5 and -6) that can be selectively crystallized into the pure 2D or 3D net using an anionic or neutral surfactant, respectively. Each polymorph contains a H2 O molecule, but differs dramatically in its bonding to the framework, which in turn affects the crystal structure and electrocatalytic performance for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Both experimental and computational studies find that 2D CTGU-5 which has coordinates water and more open access to the cobalt site has higher electrocatalytic activity than CTGU-6 with the lattice water. The integration with co-catalysts, such as acetylene black (AB) leads to a composite material, AB&CTGU-5 (1:4) with very efficient HER catalytic properties among reported MOFs. It exhibits superior HER properties including a very positive onset potential of 18 mV, low Tafel slope of 45 mV dec-1 , higher exchange current density of 8.6×10-4 A cm-2 , and long-term stability.

