In situ fabrication of dendritic tin-based carbon nanostructures for hydrogen evolution reaction

Ola, Oluwafunmilola; Chen, Yu; Thummavichai, Kunyapat; Zhu, Yanqiu

Abstract

In this work, dendritic tin-based carbon (Sn/C) nanostructures with four different morphologies were synthesized by a facile two-step carbonization and chemical vapor deposition method and were then evaluated for their performance in hydrogen evolution reaction. The Sn/C dendrites are approximately 0.5 – 4.5 µm in length, each having secondary branches in different directions. The four morphologies of the Sn/C dendrites namely nanoflowers (Sn_NCF1), nanospheres (Sn_NCF2), nanocubes (Sn_NCF3) and nanocuboids (Sn_NCF4), behave differently in their electrochemical performance, with Sn_NCF2 and Sn_NCF1 performing better. Sn_NCF2 demonstrates optimal HER performance compared to other Sn based samples with onset potential and overpotential of 100 and 260 mV, respectively. The higher electrochemical surface area observed in Sn_NCF2 was originated from the presence of more catalytic sites which contributed to the enhanced HER activity and better current density, against other Sn-based samples. In addition to the improved HER performance, Sn_NCF2 demonstrates excellent stability with less than 6% degradation of its initial current after operating for over 8 h in acidic media.

Citation

Ola, O., Chen, Y., Thummavichai, K., & Zhu, Y. (2020). In situ fabrication of dendritic tin-based carbon nanostructures for hydrogen evolution reaction. Sustainable Energy and Fuels, 4(10), 5223-5228. https://doi.org/10.1039/d0se00812e

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Aug 9, 2020
• Online Publication Date: Aug 12, 2020
• Publication Date: Oct 1, 2020
• Deposit Date: Aug 20, 2020
• Publicly Available Date: Aug 21, 2020
• Journal: Sustainable Energy and Fuels
• Print ISSN: 2398-4902
• Electronic ISSN: 2398-4902
• Publisher: Royal Society of Chemistry
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 4
• Issue: 10
• Pages: 5223-5228
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1039/d0se00812e
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/4845025
• Publisher URL: https://pubs.rsc.org/en/Content/ArticleLanding/2020/SE/D0SE00812E#!divAbstract