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Enhanced hydrogen evolution from the MoP/C hybrid by the modification of Ketjen Black

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Abstract

It is still a great challenge to find highly efficient non-Pt catalysts with good stability for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). The molybdenum phosphide (MoP)-based catalysts have been identified as promising candidates to replace noble Pt, but the further improvement of these catalysts is still strongly demanded. Herein, a simple strategy to enhance the HER activity of the MoP catalyst has been proposed, in which a novel MoP/C hybrid is prepared by a facile temperature-programmed reduction method with the modification of Ketjen Black, exhibiting superior HER activity with a smaller Tafel slope of 54 mV dec−1 and a larger current density of 151 mA cm−2 at −400 mV, about 34 times larger than that of the pure MoP catalyst. Moreover, a possible improvement mechanism was also stated.

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Acknowledgements

Financial supports from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 51302326 and 51572301) and the Hunan Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 2016JJ3153) are gratefully acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Materials Science and Engineering, Central South University, Changsha, 410083, China

    Dezhi Wang, Yilin Shen, Xiangyong Zhang & Zhuangzhi Wu

  2. Key Laboratory of Ministry of Education for Non-ferrous Materials Science and Engineering, Changsha, 410083, China

    Dezhi Wang & Zhuangzhi Wu

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  1. Dezhi Wang
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  2. Yilin Shen
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  3. Xiangyong Zhang
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  4. Zhuangzhi Wu
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Correspondence to Zhuangzhi Wu.

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Wang, D., Shen, Y., Zhang, X. et al. Enhanced hydrogen evolution from the MoP/C hybrid by the modification of Ketjen Black. J Mater Sci 52, 3337–3343 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-016-0621-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-016-0621-1

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