Electrocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution Reaction (HER) with Triphenylamine Based Metal-Free Conjugated Porous Organic...

At present time the ever-increasing demand for clean energy can only be met by renewable and green energy sources. One of the alternatives is the easy production and supply of hydrogen as an energy source. As an attempt to provide an alternate strategy for hydrogen production from easily available sources under mild conditions, novel metal-free conjugated porous organic polymers (POPs) named tris(4-aminophenyl)amine-OMe (TPA-OMe) and tris(4-aminophenyl)amine-NO₂ (TPA-NO₂) which act as electrocatalysts for electrocatalytic hydrogen production and exhibit excellent hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) activity with the overpotential (η₁₀) of 353 and 430 mV, respectively, at the current density of 10 mA cm^-2 and low Tafel slope, are judiciously designed and synthesized. The electrocatalytic stability of the catalysts is excellent in the acidic electrolyte (0.5 m H₂SO₄) up to the 500^th cycle, and a reduction of overpotential has also been observed. In chronoamperometry analysis, the current density remains constant up to 12 h which shows the excellent durability of the catalysts. The successful studies for the production of hydrogen gas and the catalytic activities of the aforementioned electrocatalysts (TPA-OMe, TPA-NO₂) are reported.