TY - JOUR
T1 - High Electrocatalytic Response of Ultra-refractory Ternary Alloys of Ta-Hf-C Carbide toward Hydrogen Evolution Reaction in Acidic Media
AU - Valencia, Drochss P.
AU - Yate, Luis
AU - Aperador, Willian
AU - Li, Yanguang
AU - Coy, Emerson
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 American Chemical Society.
PY - 2018/11/8
Y1 - 2018/11/8
N2 - Transition metal carbide alloys are promising materials to replace platinum as electrodes in electrocatalysts toward the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Although tantalum hafnium carbides (Ta-Hf-C) have shown outstanding refractory and structural properties, there is no clear role of their electrochemical efficiency. Here we report on the electrochemical activity of such thin films, (Ta2C)(100-x)%·(Hf2C)(x)%, x = 100, 70, 30, and 0, deposited by magnetron sputtering. Grazing incidence X-ray diffraction showed no evidence of phase segregation, and XPS confirms the well-controlled stoichiometry of the electrodes. The HER kinetics was studied in strong acidic conditions, and it was found that the (Ta2C)70%·(Hf2C)30% was the most active material toward HER in this acid media and displayed an onset overpotential of -198 mV vs NHE and a Tafel slope of 129 mV·dec-1. Our results suggest that the strong affinity of Hf-C toward oxygen reduction reaction could be responsible for the high catalytic response and strong oxidation resistance of the ternary carbide alloys. Finally, we show that, in fact, the Ta-Hf-C alloys can be competitive materials toward HER.
AB - Transition metal carbide alloys are promising materials to replace platinum as electrodes in electrocatalysts toward the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Although tantalum hafnium carbides (Ta-Hf-C) have shown outstanding refractory and structural properties, there is no clear role of their electrochemical efficiency. Here we report on the electrochemical activity of such thin films, (Ta2C)(100-x)%·(Hf2C)(x)%, x = 100, 70, 30, and 0, deposited by magnetron sputtering. Grazing incidence X-ray diffraction showed no evidence of phase segregation, and XPS confirms the well-controlled stoichiometry of the electrodes. The HER kinetics was studied in strong acidic conditions, and it was found that the (Ta2C)70%·(Hf2C)30% was the most active material toward HER in this acid media and displayed an onset overpotential of -198 mV vs NHE and a Tafel slope of 129 mV·dec-1. Our results suggest that the strong affinity of Hf-C toward oxygen reduction reaction could be responsible for the high catalytic response and strong oxidation resistance of the ternary carbide alloys. Finally, we show that, in fact, the Ta-Hf-C alloys can be competitive materials toward HER.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85056142074&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1021/acs.jpcc.8b08123
DO - 10.1021/acs.jpcc.8b08123
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85056142074
SN - 1932-7447
VL - 122
SP - 25433
EP - 25440
JO - Journal of Physical Chemistry C
JF - Journal of Physical Chemistry C
IS - 44
ER -