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One-Dimensional Selenidostannates Based on an Infrequent Tetrameric Cluster [Sn4Se12] Exhibiting Electro-Catalytic
Hong-Hui Tan1, Xing Liu1, Chun-Mei Huang1
1Chongqing Key Laboratory of Inorganic Functional Materials, College of Chemistry, Chongqing Normal University, Chongqing 401331, P. R. China.
Abstract:
The discovery of low-cost and efficient electro-catalytic materials for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is very desirable in hydrogen energy technology. Here, a new type of one-dimensional (1-D) organic hybrid selenidostannate [Ni(en)3]n[Sn2Se5]n (SnSe-1, en = ethylenediamine) with an in situ [Ni(en)3]2+ complex was achieved by the solvothermal reaction of Sn, Se, and NiCl2·6H2O in a mixed solvent of en and triethanolamine at 160 °C for 10 days. The crystal structure of SnSe-1 contains a unique 1-D [Sn2Se52-] chain built up from the sharing-edge connection of a hitherto-unknown tetrameric [Sn4Se12] cluster, which is separated by discrete [Ni(en)3]2+ complexes. SnSe-1 is first combined with Ni nanoparticles supported on conductive porous Ni foam (NF) to constitute a Ni/SnSe-1/NF electrode as the HER electro-catalyst, displaying superior electro-catalytic activity in near-neutral conditions.
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