Ni-MOF-derived NiPt dual atoms self-supporting electrode by inkjet printing for hydrogen evolution reaction

Abstract

Exploring electrocatalysts with high catalytic activity is an important way to develop hydrogen production from catalytic water splitting. Dual atoms catalysts (DACs) possess the same advantages as single-atom catalysts. In addition, DACs also have multiple active sites, which can reduce the amount of noble metal materials while maintaining their original catalytic activity, and are expected to be an effective strategy for the preparation of noble metal-based catalysts. Herein, a NiPt dual atoms self-supporting electrode loaded on carbon sponges (NiPt DAs/CMS) was proposed by inkjet printing NiPt-MOF precursor on melamine sponge, followed by the high-temperature pyrolysis. The randomly distributed dual atoms configuration was confirmed by the aberration-corrected transmission electron microscope. The prepared materials were directly used as working electrodes with high stability to maintain a constant hydrogen evolution overpotential for up to 27 h in acidic media without decaying. In addition, the Pt loading is only 1.41 wt% in NiPt DAs/CMS, much lower than the commercial Pt/C (20 wt%), which opens a new opportunity for the large-scale development of Pt-based catalysts.