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Updated: Feb 17, 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
Tungsten-coated nano-boron carbide as a non-noble metal bifunctional electrocatalyst for oxygen evolution and
Yan Zhang1, Yanhui Wang, Chan Han
1State Key Laboratory of Metastable Materials Science and Technology, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Yanshan University, Qinhuangdao 066004, PR China. diamondzjb@163.com.
Abstract:
Herein, tungsten-coated nano-boron carbide (W-WB4-WCx/B4C) particles were prepared by heating a mixture of B4C and W powder using a spark plasma coating (SPC) method. During the discharge treatment process, metal W in the mixture is activated and reacts with B4C to form WCx, WB4, and graphite nanoribbons. The oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) performance of W-WB4-WCx/B4C is tested in an alkaline solution, and the results show that the W-WB4-WCx/B4C composite electrocatalyst exhibits a low overpotential of 0.36 V at 10 mA cm-2 for the OER, a small overpotential of -0.19 V (j = 10 mA cm-2) for the HER, as well as good stability. The significantly enhanced electrocatalytic performance of the W-WB4-WCx/B4C composites is attributed to their unique structure, in which WCx and WB4 not only improve the catalytic activity for the OER and HER, but also effectively anchor the W coating on the substrate.
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