Efficient Solvothermal Synthesis of Defect-Rich Cu-BTC•MOF with Enhanced Electrocatalytic Activity in Alkaline Hydrogen Evolution Reaction

Abstract

Porous metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) have been recently discovered to be efficient catalysts for energy applications and green technologies. Here, we report on a scalable catalytic platform using Cu-based MOFs for electrocatalytic alkaline hydrogen evolution reaction. First, the solvothermal synthesis of Cu-BTC MOFs (BTC = 1,3,5-benzenetricarboxylate) at 85 °C and a 1:60 ligand-to-solvent ratio allowed for minimizing the chemical consumption. Second, the obtained platform demonstrated enhanced electrochemical performance compared with commercially available Cu-based MOFs, with a potential of − 230 versus − 232 eV, logarithm of the current density of − 3.6 versus − 4.2 cm², and electrochemical surface area of 75 versus 25 cm² per cm² of geometric area, respectively. Morphological and Raman analyses also revealed that the high concentration of defects in the obtained submicron Cu-BTC MOFs can contribute to their improved catalytic performance. Thus, our findings pave the way to the low-cost synthesis of energy-efficient MOF-based catalysts for hydrogen production.

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