Palladium - silicon nanocomposites as a stable electrocatalyst for hydrogen evolution reaction

Pd nanoparticles grown in-situ on the surface of silicon nanowires (Pd-SiNW nanocomposites) were employed as electrocatalysts in hydrogen evolution reaction and exhibited satisfactory catalytic performance. Here, SiNWs served as the carrier with vast surface area. It is interesting to note that Pd-SiNW nanocomposites were more stable for hydrogen evolution reaction than the commercial Pt/C catalysts, which might be attributed to the three-dimensional crisscrossing structure of the composites and the strong interaction between Pd and Si. The strong interaction is due to the low lattice mismatch in the epitaxial growth of Pd particles on the surface of Si. Such special structure and interaction help to tightly hold Pd nanoparticles, which could avoid the loss of catalysts and keep the catalyst from being agglomerated and growing large.