@article{Yan2020, 
author = {Xiaoxiao Yan and Minyi Gu and Yao Wang and Lin Xu and Yawen Tang and Renbing Wu},
title = {In-situ growth of Ni nanoparticle-encapsulated N-doped carbon nanotubes on carbon nanorods for efficient hydrogen evolution electrocatalysis},
year = {2020},
journal = {Nano Research},
volume = {13},
number = {4},
pages = {975-982},
keywords = {hydrogen evolution reaction, Ni nanoparticles, nitrogen-doped carbon nanotubes, carbon nanorods, hierarchically branched structure},
url = {https://www.sciopen.com/article/10.1007/s12274-020-2727-7},
doi = {10.1007/s12274-020-2727-7},
abstract = {Searching for inexpensive, efficient and durable electrocatalysts with earth-abundant elements toward the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is of vital importance for the future sustainable hydrogen economy, yet still remains a formidable challenge. Herein, a facile template-engaged strategy is demonstrated for the direct in-situ growth of Ni nanoparticles and N-doped carbon nanotubes on carbon nanorod substrates, forming a hierarchically branched architecture (abbreviated as Ni@N-C NT/NRs hereafter). The elaborate construction of such unique hierarchical structure with tightly encapsulated Ni nanoparticles and open configuration endows the as-fabricated Ni@N-C NT/NRs with abundant well-dispersed active sites, enlarged surface area, reduced resistances of charge transfer and mass diffusion, and reinforced mechanical robustness. As a consequence, the optimal Ni@N-C NT/NR catalyst demonstrates superior electrocatalytic activity with relatively low overpotential of 134 mV to deliver a current density of 10 mA·cm-2 and excellent stability for HER in 0.1 M KOH, holding a great promise for practical scalable H2 production. More importantly, this work offers a reliable methodology for feasible fabrication of robust high-performance carbon-based hierarchical architectures for a variety of electrochemical applications.}
}