US EPA

4772572 

Journal Article 

Study of cobalt boride-derived electrocatalysts for overall water splitting 

Chen, Z; Kang, Q; Cao, G; Xu, N; Dai, H; Wang, P 

2018 

Yes 

International Journal of Hydrogen Energy
ISSN: 0360-3199 

43 

12 

6076-6087 

10.1016/j.ijhydene.2018.01.161 

WOS:000428823900008 

The production of clean hydrogen fuel by the electrolysis of water requires highly active, low-cost and facilely prepared electrocatalyst that minimizes energy consumption. Here we report an active cobalt boride (CoB)-derived electrocatalyst for both oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). The CoB catalyst can be readily deposed on 3D nickel foam (NF) using a simple electroless plating method. A comprehensive analysis of the CoB catalyst with scanning electron microscopy transmission (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Raman spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) techniques revealed that CoOOH is formed on the surface of CoB catalyst during the OER process and Co(OH)(2) is formed in the HER process. The catalyst derived from CoB/NF exhibits low over potentials towards both OER and HER in alkaline solution. The electrolysis cell using the CoB-derived catalyst couple requires a cell voltage of 1.69 V to afford a current density of 10 mA/cm(2), which compares favorably with most non-noble bifunctional electrocatalysts. The favorable combination of high-performance, low cost and facile preparation suggests that transition metal borides may act as promising electrocatalyst for water splitting. (C) 2018 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 

Water splitting; Transition metal borides; Oxygen evolution reaction; Hydrogen evolution reaction; Bifunctional catalyst