High Durability and Electrocatalytic Activity Toward Hydrogen Evolution Reaction with Ultralow Rhodium Loading on Titania

Abstract

Herein, we report the synthesis of titania supported Rh(0) nanoparticles (Rh 0 /TiO 2 ) as electrocatalyst for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) in acidic medium. Rhodium nanoparticles with an average particle size of 2.54 nm are found to be well-dispersed on TiO 2 surface. Rh 0 /TiO 2 with very low loading density (3.79 μ g cm −2 ) was attached on the glassy carbon electrode (GCE) by drop-casting method. Electrocatalytic performance of modified GCE was investigated via linear sweep voltammetry (LSV) in 0.5 M aqueous H 2 SO 4 solution after 2000 cycle treatment (Rh 0 /TiO 2 -2000) and it was found that Rh 0 /TiO 2 -2000 on GCE exhibits superior electrocatalytic activity (TOF: 11.45 s −1 at η = 100 mV, η 0 :−28 mV, η 10 mA cm −2 : −37 mV, j 0 : 0.686 mA cm −2 and Tafel slope: 32 Mv dec −1 ). More importantly, it provides outstanding long-term stability (10000 cycles) at room temperature for HER, which makes Rh 0 /TiO 2 -2000 a promising electrocatalyst for hydrogen generation.