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Tandem MoP nanocrystals with rich grain boundaries for efficient electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution
Xiaoxiao Liu1, Lei Zhang, Mengxia Li
1State Key Laboratory of Materials Processing and Die & Mould Technology, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, China. huxl@mail.hust.edu.cn.
Chemical Communications (Cambridge, England)
|February 21, 2018
Summary
Creating surface defects like grain boundaries in nanomaterials boosts catalytic activity. Researchers synthesized interconnected Molybdenum Phosphide (MoP) nanocrystals with numerous grain boundaries, showing excellent performance for hydrogen evolution reactions.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Nanotechnology
- Electrochemistry
Background:
- Surface disorder in nanomaterials, including grain boundaries and stacking faults, is crucial for enhancing catalytic activity.
- Nanocatalysts are vital for various chemical reactions, and optimizing their surface properties is a key research area.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop a facile synthesis method for creating nanocrystals with abundant surface disorder.
- To investigate the electrocatalytic activity of these engineered nanocrystals for hydrogen evolution.
Main Methods:
- Facile synthesis of crystallographically interconnected Molybdenum Phosphide (MoP) nanocrystals.
- Characterization of the synthesized nanocrystals, focusing on the presence of grain boundaries.
Main Results:
- Successfully synthesized MoP nanocrystals with a high density of grain boundaries.
- The engineered MoP nanocrystals demonstrated outstanding electrocatalytic activity for hydrogen evolution.
Conclusions:
- The facile synthesis of MoP nanocrystals with abundant grain boundaries is an effective strategy for enhancing electrocatalytic performance.
- This work highlights the potential of surface disorder engineering in nanocatalysts for efficient hydrogen production.
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