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Nano Research 2022, 15(3): 1868-1873 https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-021-3787-z
Research Article | Issue | Published: 01 September 2021

Boron leaching: Creating vacancy-rich Ni for enhanced hydrogen evolution

Show Author's Information Chao Han1,  Weijie Li2,  Jiazhao Wang2,  Zhenguo Huang1,3( )
School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology, University of Technology Sydney, NSW 2007, Australia
Institute for Superconducting & Electronic Materials, AIIM Building, Innovation Campus, University of Wollongong, Squires Way, North Wollongong, NSW 2500, Australia
Centre for Green Technology, Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology, University of Technology Sydney, NSW 2007, Australia
Keywords:
hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), two-dimensional structure, Ni2B , boron leaching, vacancies
Topics:
Hydrogen evolution reaction
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Han C, Li W, Wang J, et al. Boron leaching: Creating vacancy-rich Ni for enhanced hydrogen evolution. Nano Research, 2022, 15(3): 1868-1873. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-021-3787-z
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Abstract Full text About this article

Creating vacancy is often highly effective in enhancing the hydrogen evolution performance of transition metal-based catalysts. Vacancy-rich Ni nanosheets have been fabricated via topochemical formation of two-dimentional (2D) Ni2B on graphene precursor followed by boron leaching. Anchored on graphene, a few atomic layered Ni2B nanosheets are first obtained by reduction and annealing. Large number of atomic vacancies are then generated in the Ni2B layer via leaching boron atoms. When used for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), the vacancy-rich Ni/Ni(OH)2 heterostructure nanosheets demonstrate remarkable performance with a low overpotential of 159 mV at a current density of 10 mA·cm−2 in alkaline solution, a dramatic improvement over 262 mV of its precursor. This enhancement is associated with the formation of vacancies which introduce more active sites for HER along Ni/Ni(OH)2 heterointerfaces. This work offers a facile and universal route to introduce vacancies and improve catalytic activity.


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About this article

Boron leaching: Creating vacancy-rich Ni for enhanced hydrogen evolution

Show Author's information Chao Han1, Weijie Li2, Jiazhao Wang2, Zhenguo Huang1,3( )
School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology, University of Technology Sydney, NSW 2007, Australia
Institute for Superconducting & Electronic Materials, AIIM Building, Innovation Campus, University of Wollongong, Squires Way, North Wollongong, NSW 2500, Australia
Centre for Green Technology, Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology, University of Technology Sydney, NSW 2007, Australia

Abstract

Creating vacancy is often highly effective in enhancing the hydrogen evolution performance of transition metal-based catalysts. Vacancy-rich Ni nanosheets have been fabricated via topochemical formation of two-dimentional (2D) Ni2B on graphene precursor followed by boron leaching. Anchored on graphene, a few atomic layered Ni2B nanosheets are first obtained by reduction and annealing. Large number of atomic vacancies are then generated in the Ni2B layer via leaching boron atoms. When used for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), the vacancy-rich Ni/Ni(OH)2 heterostructure nanosheets demonstrate remarkable performance with a low overpotential of 159 mV at a current density of 10 mA·cm−2 in alkaline solution, a dramatic improvement over 262 mV of its precursor. This enhancement is associated with the formation of vacancies which introduce more active sites for HER along Ni/Ni(OH)2 heterointerfaces. This work offers a facile and universal route to introduce vacancies and improve catalytic activity.

Keywords: hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), two-dimensional structure, Ni2B , boron leaching, vacancies

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Publication history
Copyright
Acknowledgements

Publication history

Received: 12 June 2021
Revised: 28 July 2021
Accepted: 29 July 2021
Published: 01 September 2021
Issue date: March 2022

Copyright

© Tsinghua University Press and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2021

Acknowledgements

Acknowledgements

Z. H. acknowledges support under the Australian Research Council’s Future Fellowship (No. FT190100658). This work is partially supported by the Australian Research Council (ARC) through a Discovery project (No. DP180101453). W. L. is grateful for the support from a Discovery Early Career Researcher Award via DE180101478.

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