CFAED – CENTER FOR ADVANCING ELECTRONICS DRESDEN
TU DRESDEN
PRESS RELEASE
18 May 2017
Synthesis of Molecular Hydrogen: Novel Method Sets
Benchmark for Platinum-free Electrocatalysts
A paper from cfaed’s Chair for Molecular Functional Materials co-authored by
researchers at universities and institutes in Germany, France and Japan has been
published in Nature Communications on 17th May 2017. The paper titled “Efficient
hydrogen production on MoNi4 electrocatalysts with fast water dissociation kinetics”
describes a new approach to revolutionize the production of molecular hydrogen. This
gas is considered to be one of the most promising energy carriers of the future.
Growing concern about the energy crisis and the seriousness of environmental
contamination urgently demand the development of renewable energy sources as feasible
alternatives to diminishing fossil fuels. Owing to its high energy density and environmentally
friendly characteristics, molecular hydrogen is an attractive and promising energy carrier to
meet future global energy demands. In many of the approaches for hydrogen production,
the electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) from water splitting is the most
economical and effective route for the future hydrogen economy. To accelerate the sluggish
HER kinetics, particularly in alkaline electrolytes, highly active and durable electrocatalysts
are essential to lower the kinetic HER overpotential. As a benchmark HER electrocatalyst
with a zero HER overpotential, the precious metal platinum (Pt) plays a dominant role in
present H2-production technologies, such as water-alkali electrolysers. Unfortunately, the
scarcity and high cost of Pt seriously impede its large-scale applications in electrocatalytic
HERs.
Prof. Xinliang Feng’s team from the Technische Universität Dresden (Germany)/ Center for
Advancing Electronics Dresden (cfaed), in collaboration with the University Lyon, ENS de
Lyon, Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS, France), the Tohoku University
(Japan) and the Fraunhofer Institute for Ceramic Technologies and Systems (IKTS) (Germany),
have reported a low-cost MoNi4 electrocatalyst anchored on MoO2 cuboids, which are
vertically aligned on nickel foam (MoNi4/MoO2@Ni). MoNi4 nanoparticles are constructed in
situ on the MoO2 cuboids by controlling the outward diffusion of Ni atoms. The resultant
MoNi4/MoO2@Ni exhibits a high HER activity that is highly comparable to that of the Pt
catalyst and presents state-of-the-art HER activity amongst all reported Pt-free
electrocatalysts. Experimental investigations reveal that the MoNi4 electrocatalyst behaves as
the highly active centre and manifests fast Tafel step-determined HER kinetics. Furthermore,
density functional theory (DFT) calculations determine that the kinetic energy barrier of the
Volmer step for the MoNi4 electrocatalyst is greatly decreased. The large-scale preparation
and excellent catalytic stability provide MoNi4/MoO2@Ni with a promising utilization in
water-alkali electrolysers for hydrogen production. Therefore, the exploration and
understanding of the MoNi4 electrocatalyst provide a promising alternative to Pt catalysts
for emerging applications in energy generation.
Reference:
Efficient hydrogen production on MoNi4 electrocatalysts with fast water dissociation kinetics
J. Zhang, T. Wang, P. Liu, Z. Liao, S. Liu, X. Zhuang, M. Chen, E. Zschech, X. Feng*
Nat. Commun.
This work was financially supported by the ERC Grant on 2DMATER and EC under Graphene Flagship (No.
CNECT-ICT-604391).
DOI: 10.1038/NCOMMS15437
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/NCOMMS15437
Press Image
Figure. a) Synthetic scheme of MoNi4 electrocatalyst supported by the MoO2 cuboids on nickel foam; b)
polarization curves of the MoNi4 electrocatalyst supported by the MoO2 cuboids, pure Ni nanosheets and MoO2
cuboids on the nickel foam; c) calculated adsorption free energy diagram for the Tafel step.
Download: http://bit.ly/2qnEolD
Press Contact:
Prof. Xinliang Feng
Technische Universität Dresden
cfaed Chair of Molecular Functional Materials
Phone: +49 351 463-43251
E-mail: [email protected]
Matthias Hahndorf
cfaed Communications Officer
Phone: +49 (0)351 463 42847
E-mail: [email protected]
cfaed
cfaed is a microelectronics research cluster funded by the German Excellence Initiative. It comprises 11
cooperating institutes in Saxony. About 300 scientists from more than 20 countries investigate new technologies
for electronic information processing. These technologies are inspired by innovative materials such as silicon
nanowires, carbon nanotubes or polymers or based on completely new concepts such as the chemical chip or
circuit fabrication methods by self-assembling structures such as DNA-Origami. The orchestration of these new
devices into heterogeneous information processing systems with focus on their resilience and energy-efficiency is
also part of cfaed’s research program which comprises nine different research paths.
www.cfaed.tu-dresden.de