US EPA

4832509 

Journal Article 

Highly Active, Nonprecious Electrocatalyst Comprising Borophene Subunits for the Hydrogen Evolution Reaction 

Chen, Y; Yu, G; Chen, W; Liu, Y; Li, GD; Zhu, P; Tao, Q; Li, Q; Liu, J; Shen, X; Li, H; Huang, X; Wang, D; Asefa, T; Zou, X 

2017 

Yes 

Journal of the American Chemical Society
ISSN: 0002-7863
EISSN: 1520-5126 

139 

36 

12370-12373 

English 

28686430 

10.1021/jacs.7b06337 

WOS:000411043900010 

Developing nonprecious hydrogen evolution electrocatalysts that can work well at large current densities (e.g., at 1000 mA/cm2: a value that is relevant for practical, large-scale applications) is of great importance for realizing a viable water-splitting technology. Herein we present a combined theoretical and experimental study that leads to the identification of α-phase molybdenum diboride (α-MoB2) comprising borophene subunits as a noble metal-free, superefficient electrocatalyst for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Our theoretical finding indicates, unlike the surfaces of Pt- and MoS2-based catalysts, those of α-MoB2 can maintain high catalytic activity for HER even at very high hydrogen coverage and attain a high density of efficient catalytic active sites. Experiments confirm α-MoB2 can deliver large current densities in the order of 1000 mA/cm2, and also has excellent catalytic stability during HER. The theoretical and experimental results show α-MoB2's catalytic activity, especially at large current densities, is due to its high conductivity, large density of efficient catalytic active sites and good mass transport property.