In Situ Growth of Ag Nanodots Decorated Cu₂O Porous Nanobelts Networks on Copper Foam for Efficient HER Electrocatalysis

Abstract

Developing earth-abundant electrocatalysts for high-efficiency hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) has become one of the leading research frontiers in energy conversion. Here, the design and in situ growth of Ag nanodots decorated Cu₂ O porous nanobelts networks on Cu foam (denoted as Ag@Cu₂ O/CF) are carried out via a simple one-pot solution strategy at room temperature. Serving as self-supporting electrocatalysts, Ag@Cu₂ O porous nanobelts provide plentiful active sites, and the 3D hybrid foams provide fast transportation for electrolyte and short diffusion path for newly formed H₂ bubbles, which result in excellent electrocatalytic HER activity and long-term stability. Owing to the synergistic effect between Ag nanodots and Cu₂ O porous nanobelts and CF, the hybrid electrocatalyst exhibits a low Tafel slope of 58 mV dec^-1 , a small overpotential of 108 mV at 10 mA cm^-2 , and high durability for more than 20 h at a potential of 200 mV for HER in 1.0 mol L^-1 KOH solution.