Porous Ti₃C₂T_x for Efficient Electrocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution Reaction

Abstract

MXene is an emerging class of two-dimensional (2D) layered transition metal carbides or nitrides. Due to the highly tunable components and surface functional groups, it holds great potential in electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). However, MXene nanosheet suffers from a strong tendency to restack and a lack of active edge sites. In this work, the porous Ti₃C₂T_x was synthesized by an oxidation and etching two-step strategy and then characterized by a series of spectroscopic techniques. The obtained porous Ti₃C₂T_x possesses a large number of in-plane pores. This not only creates abundant active edge sites but also enhances the mass transfer and increases the accessibility of the active sites. Compared with Ti₃C₂T_x, in a 0. 5 mol/L H₂SO₄ electrolyte, the porous Ti₃C₂T_x shows a 65. 6% higher electrochemical surface area (ECSA) (440 mF/cm2), a 95. 2% lower charge transfer resistance (12. 8 Ω), and a 69. 8% lower Tafel slope (144 mV/dec), and thus exhibits lower overpotential with good stability at a current density of 10 mA/cm2. At the same time, the HER performance of the porous Ti₃C₂T_x can be further enhanced by near-infrared laser irradiation based on the localized surface plasmon resonance effect.

Keywords

porous Ti₃C₂T_x / hydrogen evolution reaction(HER) / active edge site / localized surface plasmon resonance

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Funding

National Outstanding Youth Science Foundation(52225204)