AUTHOR=Jing Yanqiu , Lei Qiang , Hu Gang , He Jixian , Lei Xiao , Wang Fei , Li Junju , Yang Yide , Zhang Xuewei TITLE=PVP/ZIF-8-Derived Zn, Ni Co-loaded N-Doped Porous Carbon as a Catalyst for an Efficient Hydrogen Evolution Reaction JOURNAL=Frontiers in Chemistry VOLUME=8 YEAR=2020 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/chemistry/articles/10.3389/fchem.2020.00723 DOI=10.3389/fchem.2020.00723 ISSN=2296-2646 ABSTRACT=

Exploring catalysts with low cost and excellent performance for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is still a significant challenge. In this work, zeolitic imidazolate framework 8 (ZIF-8), hybridized with polyvinylpyrrolidone, was used to prepare Zn, Ni co-loaded N-doped porous carbon (ZnNi/NPC) via a straightforward absorption and pyrolysis process. The as-prepared ZnNi/NPC was used as a catalyst for the HER. This experiment showed that the porous structure and Ni doping have a significant influence on the HER activity of the catalyst. Compared with Zn/NC and Zn/NPC, ZnNi/NPC exhibits superior HER activity with an overpotential of 198 mV and a Tafel slope of 69.2 mV dec−1. ZnNi/NPC also shows excellent physical and chemical stability during the HER process. Considering the lower cost and excellent HER performance of ZnNi/NPC, this work provides an attractive solution to fabricate non-precious materials and offers a possible new strategy to replace Pt-based electrocatalysts for HER.