Crystal Facet Engineering of Single‐Crystalline TiC Nanocubes for Improved Hydrogen Evolution Reaction
Miao Song, Dehong Chen, Yafeng Yang, Maoqiao Xiang, Qingshan Zhu, Hongdan Zhao, Liam Ward, Xiaobo Chen
Abstract
Abstract Single‐crystalline {100} faceted TiC is of great significance in theory to a large number of engineering applications owing to its extraordinary catalytic properties. However, the {111} planes are prevalent in conventional TiC powders given their favorable thermodynamic stability during the initial low stoichiometric growth stage. Herein, a disproportionation–decomposition strategy is developed to directly produce Ti and C atoms to synthesize single‐crystalline {100} faceted TiC powders. Outstanding electrochemical performance of TiC {100} crystal planes in terms of the hydrogen evolution reaction is evidenced by an overpotential of 392 mV at 10 mA cm −2 , which is 52% lower than that of randomly faceted TiC counterparts (815 mV).