Nanopalladium-Anchored MXene Nanoflowers for Boosting Electrocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution Reaction

The synthesis of efficient hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) electrocatalysts is challenging for industrial-scale hydrogen generation by water splitting. Since their discovery in 2011, MXenes have been extensively investigated for their use in various energy applications as they possess sheet-like morphology that provides more active surface area and facilitates fast ion transfer. This work utilizes a facile hydrothermal treatment to fabricate palladium-modified MXene nanoflowers (nPdNFs). Chemical and morphological analysis of these synthesized nPdNFs shows that nPds have been successfully incorporated in MXene nanoflowers and act as an excellent support material for nPds. The effect of temperature and the thermal decomposition properties of the synthesized material were investigated by calcining it at different temperatures like 200, 300, and 400 °C in a flow of N2 gas. It is observed that nPdNFs-3 (calcined at 300 °C) exhibits maximum active catalytic sites for HER because its porous morphology supports rapid ion transportation. The electrochemical active surface area (ECSA) for all three materials was evaluated, among which nPdNFs-3 demonstrated the highest ECSA value, corroborating its HER activity and depicting a current density of 10 mA cm−2 at a low overpotential of 149 mV, with a Tafel slope of 96 mV dec–1 in 0.5 M H2SO4. The fabricated nanostructured material highlights ceaseless efforts and paves the way for developing MXenes and related materials, which can be employed in the energy conversion and storage sector.