A nitrogen-doped carbon nanosheet composited platinum–cobalt single atom alloy catalyst for effective hydrogen evolution reaction

Abstract

An electrocatalyst with ultra-small PtCo single atom alloy species evenly dispersed on nitrogen-doped ultra-thin carbon nanosheets (PtCo SAA/NC) was designed. The introduction of single-atom Pt not only maximizes the atomic utilization efficiency of Pt species, but also synergistically enhances the charge transfer characteristics of Co cluster surfaces, thereby increasing the migration and evolution rate of hydrogen ions. The PtCo SAA/NC catalyst exhibits a Tafel slope of 42 mV dec⁻¹ and a low overpotential of 45 mV at 10 mA cm⁻² in 0.5 M H₂SO₄ solution.