Electrospun 1D Ta3N5 -(O) nanofibers as advanced electrocatalysts for hydrogen evolution reaction in proton exchange membrane water electrolyser

Mukkavilli RS, Ichangi A, Thiyagarajan GB, Vollnhals F, Wilhelm M, Bhardwaj A, Christiansen S, Neelakantan L, Mathur S, Kumar R (2022)

Publication Type: Journal article

Publication year: 2022

Journal

Open Ceramics Elsevier

Book Volume: 10

Article Number: 100267

DOI: 10.1016/j.oceram.2022.100267

Abstract

This study demonstrates the synthesis and characterisation of electrospun Ta3N5-(O) 1D-nanofibers for electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and its performance in a proton exchange membrane (PEM) water electrolyser. 1D nanofibers were synthesized by electrospinning of tantalum ethoxide/polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) sol followed by ammonolysis at varied temperatures (800–1000 °C). Elemental distribution of the nanofibers analysed through XPS, and bulk-EDS studies revealed an increase in surface oxygen concentration with an increase in nitridation temperature (from 900 °C to 1000 °C). The nanofibers were characterized to exhibit high electrocatalytic activity for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) with a low overpotential of 320 mV to deliver 10 mA/cm2 in 0.5 M H2SO4 electrolyte. The Ta3N5-(O) 1D nanofibers were employed as novel electrocatalyst without any conducting supports in a PEM water electrolyser. A current density of 0.1 A/cm2 was achieved at an applied voltage of 2 V which is on par with earth-abundant electrocatalysts like MoS2. Furthermore, the electrospun nano fibers showed excellent stability with negligible losses over 6 h of prolonged operation. The study demonstrates the advantage of nanostructuring the electrocatalysts in enhancing the applicability of Ta3N5 and paves further a path for the development of high performance 1-D electrocatalysts for hydrogen evolution reactions (HER).

Involved external institutions

Innovations-Institut für Nanotechnologie und korrelative Mikroskopie e.V. (INAM) / Institute for Nanotechnology and Correlative Microscopy DE Germany (DE) Universität zu Köln DE Germany (DE) Indian Institute of Technology Madras IN India (IN)

How to cite

APA:

Mukkavilli, R.S., Ichangi, A., Thiyagarajan, G.B., Vollnhals, F., Wilhelm, M., Bhardwaj, A.,... Kumar, R. (2022). Electrospun 1D Ta3N5 -(O) nanofibers as advanced electrocatalysts for hydrogen evolution reaction in proton exchange membrane water electrolyser. Open Ceramics, 10. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.oceram.2022.100267

MLA:

Mukkavilli, Raghunath Sharma, et al. "Electrospun 1D Ta3N5 -(O) nanofibers as advanced electrocatalysts for hydrogen evolution reaction in proton exchange membrane water electrolyser." Open Ceramics 10 (2022).

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