Designing Efficient Non‐Precious Metal Electrocatalysts for High‐Performance Hydrogen Production: A Comprehensive Evaluation Strategy
Meng Wang, Wansen Ma, Chaowen Tan, Zeming Qiu, Liwen Hu, Xuewei Lv, Qian Li, Jie Dang
Abstract
Abstract Developing abundant Earth‐element and high‐efficient electrocatalysts for hydrogen production is crucial in effectively reducing the cost of green hydrogen production. Herein, a strategy by comprehensively considering the computational chemical indicators for H* adsorption/desorption and dehydrogenation kinetics to evaluate the hydrogen evolution performance of electrocatalysts is proposed. Guided by the proposed strategy, a series of catalysts are constructed through a dual transition metal doping strategy. Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculations and experimental chemistry demonstrate that cobalt‐vanadium co‐doped Ni 3 N is an exceptionally ideal catalyst for hydrogen production from electrolyzed alkaline water. Specifically, Co,V‐Ni 3 N requires only 10 and 41 mV in alkaline electrolytes and alkaline seawater, respectively, to achieve a hydrogen evolution current density of 10 mA cm −2 . Moreover, it can operate steadily at a large industrial current density of 500 mA cm −2 for extended periods. Importantly, this evaluation strategy is extended to single‐metal‐doped Ni 3 N and found that it still exhibits significant universality. This study not only presents an efficient non‐precious metal‐based electrocatalyst for water/seawater electrolysis but also provides a significant strategy for the design of high‐performance catalysts of electrolyzed water.