Abstract
We report a cathode material based on plasma-treated single-walled carbon nanotubes decorated by RuOx nanoparticles using atomic layer deposition. We have examined cathode performance towards hydrogen evolution reaction by tailoring material wettability, conductivity yielded by plasma treatment, and the catalyst loading. We discuss that nucleation of particles is facilitated by the appearance of carboxylic and hydroxyl groups triggered by oxygen plasma action. The best performance is associated with samples containing RuOx particles of 4–5 nm, which show hydrogen evolution onset potential to be about −5 mV (vs. RHE) in 0.5 M H2SO4 measured at a current density of −1 mA cm−2 and Tafel slope of 47.5 mV/dec. The material possesses stable performance at −10 mA cm−2 with a potential of about −160 mV.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 2651-2659 |
| Journal | ChemElectroChem |
| Volume | 7 |
| Issue number | 12 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 17 Jun 2020 |
| MoE publication type | A1 Journal article-refereed |
Funding
F.S.F and A.G.N. thank the Academy of Finland for Mobility Grant (application number 333620). The reported study was funded by RFBR, project number 20-03-00804, and the EU H2020 project ELCOREL under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement 722614. A.G.N. acknowledges the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation (Project No. FZSR-2020-0007). This study used the Aalto University Nanomicroscopy Center (Aalto-NMC) and RaMI premises.
Keywords
- atomic layer deposition
- carbon nanotubes
- hydrogen evolution reaction
- ruthenium oxide
- wettability
