Co3O4-nanoparticle-entrapped nitrogen and boron codoped mesoporous carbon as an efficient electrocatalyst for hydrogen evolution

Duihai Tang; Xue Sun; Huan Yu; Wenting Zhang; Ling Zhang; Xuefeng Li; Zhen-An Qiao; Junjiang Zhu; Zhen Zhao

doi:10.1039/C8DT05033C

Co₃O₄-nanoparticle-entrapped nitrogen and boron codoped mesoporous carbon as an efficient electrocatalyst for hydrogen evolution†

Duihai Tang,

^a Xue Sun,^a Huan Yu,^a Wenting Zhang,^a Ling Zhang,^c Xuefeng Li,^d Zhen-An Qiao,

*^b Junjiang Zhu^a and Zhen Zhao*^a

Author affiliations

* Corresponding authors

^a Institute of Catalysis for Energy and Environment, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shenyang Normal University, Shenyang 110034, P. R. China
E-mail: zhaozhen1586@163.com, zhaozhen@synu.edu.cn, zhenzhen@cup.edu.cn

^b State Key Laboratory of Inorganic Synthesis and Preparative Chemistry, College of Chemistry, Jilin University, Changchun 130012, P. R. China
E-mail: qiaozhenan@jlu.edu.cn

^c College of Chemistry, Jilin University, Changchun 130012, P. R. China

^d Alan G. MacDiarmid Institute, College of Chemistry, Jilin University, Changchun 130012, P. R. China

Abstract

Co₃O₄-nanoparticle-entrapped nitrogen and boron codoped mesoporous carbon was synthesized via the molten salt method. Melamine formaldehyde resin (MF resin) was used as the nitrogen and carbon precursor, and boric acid was utilized as the boron precursor. Furthermore, cobalt chloride was used as the cobalt precursor and the template for the formation of mesopores, which could also be removed and partly recovered by acid washing. The characterization results revealed that the as-obtained samples possessed mesoporous structures, with high cobalt, boron, and nitrogen content values. For the sample of Co_0.65B_0.3NC₈₀₀, the atomic content values of Co, N, and B are 2.3%, 8.87%, and 8.67%, respectively. Moreover, the carbonation temperature and the amount of salt template could both affect the mesoporous structures of the final samples and then affect the electrocatalytic activities for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). When the carbonation temperature was 800 °C, the sample of Co_0.65B_0.3NC₈₀₀ showed superior performance for the HER under basic conditions, with high current density, low overpotential, and good stability.

This article is part of the themed collection: New Talent: Asia-Pacific

Supplementary files

Article information

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1039/C8DT05033C
Article type: Paper
Submitted: 21 Dec 2018
Accepted: 07 Feb 2019
First published: 07 Feb 2019

Download Citation

Dalton Trans., 2019,48, 7261-7266

Permissions

Request permissions

Co₃O₄-nanoparticle-entrapped nitrogen and boron codoped mesoporous carbon as an efficient electrocatalyst for hydrogen evolution

D. Tang, X. Sun, H. Yu, W. Zhang, L. Zhang, X. Li, Z. Qiao, J. Zhu and Z. Zhao, Dalton Trans., 2019, 48, 7261 DOI: 10.1039/C8DT05033C

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Dalton Transactions