Hydrogen evolution performance of Ni loading on the carbon-based catalysts

High-performance hydrogen evolution catalysts are compelling for the conversion of energy. In this work, nickel particles were loaded on the surface of two kinds of carbon-based materials (graphene and Cabot conductive carbon black Vxc-72) by using a mild chemical method. The prepared Ni/Graphene and Ni/Vxc-72 show excellent hydrogen evolution reaction performance in 1.0 M KOH media. In particular, the overpotential of Ni/Graphene is only 29 mV (at 10 mA/cm 2 ), and the Tafel slope is 87 mV/dec. It is also proved that Ni/Graphene has good stability by chronoamperometry and cyclic voltammetry. These findings suggest the loading nickel on the carbon-base catalysts can improve the hydrogen evolution performance. • Nickel nanoparticles modified on the surface of two kinds of carbon-based supports. • Ni/Graphene with low overpotential of 29 mV (at 10 mA/cm 2 ). • Ni/Vxc-72 with relatively low overpotential of 107 mV (at 10 mA/cm 2 ). • Nickel particles exhibit different morphologies on the surface of two carbon-based supports.