Free-Standing Carbon Nanofiber Films with Supported Cobalt Phosphide Nanoparticles as Cathodes for Hydrogen Evolution Reaction in a Microbial Electrolysis Cell
High-performance and cost-efficient electrocatalysts and electrodes are needed to improve the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) for the hydrogen (H2) generation in electrolysers, including microbial electrolysis cells (MECs). In this study, free-standing carbon nanofiber (CNF) films with supported c...
| Autores: | , , , , |
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| Tipo de recurso: | artículo |
| Fecha de publicación: | 2024 |
| País: | España |
| Institución: | Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona |
| Repositorio: | Dipòsit Digital de Documents de la UAB |
| Idioma: | inglés |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:ddd.uab.cat:304264 |
| Acceso en línea: | https://ddd.uab.cat/record/304264 https://dx.doi.org/urn:doi:10.3390/nano14221849 |
| Access Level: | acceso abierto |
| Palabra clave: | Electrospinning Electrocatalyst Cobalt phosphide Carbon nanofiber (CNF) Nanoparticles Free-standing films Cathodes Hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) Microbial electrolysis cells (MECs) |
| Sumario: | High-performance and cost-efficient electrocatalysts and electrodes are needed to improve the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) for the hydrogen (H2) generation in electrolysers, including microbial electrolysis cells (MECs). In this study, free-standing carbon nanofiber (CNF) films with supported cobalt phosphide nanoparticles have been prepared by means of an up-scalable electrospinning process followed by a thermal treatment under controlled conditions. The produced cobalt phosphide-supported CNF films show to be nanoporous (pore volume up to 0.33 cm3 g-1) with a high surface area (up to 502 m2 g-1) and with a suitable catalyst mass loading (up to 0.49 mg cm-2). Values of overpotential less than 140 mV at 10 mA cm-2 have been reached for the HER in alkaline media (1 M KOH), which demonstrates a high activity. The high electrical conductivity together with the mechanical stability of the free-standing CNF films allowed their direct use as cathodes in a MEC reactor, resulting in an exceptionally low voltage operation (0.75 V) with a current density demand of 5.4 A m-2. This enabled the production of H2 with an energy consumption below 30 kWh kg-1 H2, which is highly efficient. |
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