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Activating Titanium Dioxide as a New Efficient Electrocatalyst: From Theory to Experiment.

Bowen Ren¹, Qiuyan Jin¹, Yinwei Li²

¹State Key Laboratory of Optoelectronic Materials and Technologies, School of Materials Science and Engineering, The Key Laboratory of Low-Carbon Chemistry & Energy Conservation of Guangdong Province, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China.

ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces

|February 20, 2020

Summary

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This summary is machine-generated.

This study activates titanium dioxide (TiO2) into an efficient electrocatalyst for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Cu-doped amorphous TiO2 achieves low overpotentials, demonstrating the potential of traditionally inactive materials for HER catalysis.

Area of Science:

Materials Science
Electrochemistry
Catalysis

Background:

Platinum-based catalysts are standard for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) but are expensive.
Transition-metal materials are explored as alternatives, yet many show poor HER activity.
Titanium dioxide (TiO2) is typically considered HER-inactive.

Purpose of the Study:

To activate titanium dioxide (TiO2) as an efficient electrocatalyst for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER).
To optimize TiO2's hydrogen adsorption free energy through structural and electronic property tuning.
To investigate the catalytic mechanism of the activated TiO2.

Main Methods:

First-principles simulations to guide experimental design.
Synthesis of copper (Cu)-doped amorphous TiO2.

Keywords:

DFT calculations activation strategy hydrogen evolution electrocatalyst theory-guided experiment titanium dioxide

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Electrochemical characterization of HER performance in alkaline media.

Main Results:

Cu-doped amorphous TiO2 exhibits excellent HER performance with a low overpotential of 92 mV at 10 mA cm-2.
Performance is significantly superior to crystalline TiO2 (over 400 mV).
Amorphous surface corrugation stabilizes water molecules, aiding Volmer step.
Cu doping enhances H1s-O2p orbital hybridization and electrical conductivity.

Conclusions:

Theory-guided experimental activation of TiO2 yields an efficient HER electrocatalyst.
Cu-doped amorphous TiO2 demonstrates high activity and stability for HER.
This work showcases the potential of inactive materials for electrocatalysis and deepens the understanding of HER mechanisms.