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Tungsten-coated nano-boron carbide as a non-noble metal bifunctional electrocatalyst for oxygen evolution and hydrogen evolution reactions in alkaline media
35
Citations
50
References
2017
Year
Herein, tungsten-coated nano-boron carbide (W-WB<sub>4</sub>-WC<sub>x</sub>/B<sub>4</sub>C) particles were prepared by heating a mixture of B<sub>4</sub>C and W powder using a spark plasma coating (SPC) method. During the discharge treatment process, metal W in the mixture is activated and reacts with B<sub>4</sub>C to form WC<sub>x</sub>, WB<sub>4</sub>, and graphite nanoribbons. The oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) performance of W-WB<sub>4</sub>-WC<sub>x</sub>/B<sub>4</sub>C is tested in an alkaline solution, and the results show that the W-WB<sub>4</sub>-WC<sub>x</sub>/B<sub>4</sub>C composite electrocatalyst exhibits a low overpotential of 0.36 V at 10 mA cm<sup>-2</sup> for the OER, a small overpotential of -0.19 V (j = 10 mA cm<sup>-2</sup>) for the HER, as well as good stability. The significantly enhanced electrocatalytic performance of the W-WB<sub>4</sub>-WC<sub>x</sub>/B<sub>4</sub>C composites is attributed to their unique structure, in which WC<sub>x</sub> and WB<sub>4</sub> not only improve the catalytic activity for the OER and HER, but also effectively anchor the W coating on the substrate.
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