Noble-metal-free tungsten oxide/carbon (WOx/C) hybrid nanowires for highly efficient hydrogen evolution.

Title Noble-metal-free tungsten oxide/carbon (WOx/C) hybrid nanowires for highly efficient hydrogen evolution.
Authors C. Liu; Y. Qiu; Y. Xia; F. Wang; X. Liu; X. Sun; Q. Liang; Z. Chen
Journal Nanotechnology
DOI 10.1088/1361-6528/aa8613
Abstract

Developing active, stable, and low-cost electrocatalysts to generate hydrogen is a great challenge in the fields of chemistry and energy. Nonprecious metal catalysts comprised of inexpensive and earth-abundant transition metals are regarded as a promising substitute for noble metal catalysts used in hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), but are still practically unfeasible mainly due to unsatisfactory activity and durability. Here we report a facile two-step preparation method for WOx nanowires with high concentration of oxygen vacancies (OVs) via calcination of W-polydopamine compound precursors. The resulting hybrid material possesses a uniform and ultralong 1D nanowires structure and a rough and raised surface, which can effectively improve the specific surface area. The products exhibit excellent performance for H2 generation: the required overpotentials for 1 and 10 mA cm(-2) are 18 and 108 mV, the Tafel slope is 46 mV/decade, and the electrochemically active surface area is estimated to be ?77.0 m(2) g(-1). After 1000 cycles, the catalyst works well without significant current density drop. Our experimental results verified metallic transition metal oxides as superior non-Pt electrocatalysts for practical hydrogen evolution reactions.

Citation C. Liu; Y. Qiu; Y. Xia; F. Wang; X. Liu; X. Sun; Q. Liang; Z. Chen.Noble-metal-free tungsten oxide/carbon (WOx/C) hybrid nanowires for highly efficient hydrogen evolution.. Nanotechnology. 2017;28(44):445403. doi:10.1088/1361-6528/aa8613

Related Elements

Tungsten

See more Tungsten products. Tungsten (atomic symbol: W, atomic number: 74) is a Block D, Group 6, Period 6 element with an atomic weight of 183.84. The number of electrons in each of tungsten's shells is [2, 8, 18, 32, 12, 2] and its electron configuration is [Xe] 4f14 5d4 6s2. Tungsten Bohr ModelThe tungsten atom has a radius of 139 pm and a Van der Waals radius of 210 pm. Tungsten was discovered by Torbern Bergman in 1781 and first isolated by Juan José Elhuyar and Fausto Elhuyar in 1783. In its elemental form, tungsten has a grayish white, lustrous appearance. Elemental TungstenTungsten has the highest melting point of all the metallic elements and a density comparable to that or uranium or gold and about 1.7 times that of lead. Tungsten alloys are often used to make filaments and targets of x-ray tubes. It is found in the minerals scheelite (CaWO4) and wolframite [(Fe,Mn)WO4]. In reference to its density, Tungsten gets its name from the Swedish words tung and sten, meaning heavy stone.

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