Novel waste-derived non-noble metal catalysts to accelerate acidic and alkaline hydrogen evolution reaction

Carbon substrate support is a promising approach to facilitate catalytic activity of non-noble metal catalysts in hydrogen evolution reactions (HER). Here, we report a waste-derived electrocatalyst P-CoNiO2@NC synthesized under mild condition. It exhibits outstanding HER performance in both acid (η10 = 64.6 mV) and alkaline (η10 = 96.4 mV) condition with good stability. Especially, it begins to outperform commercial Pt/C when the current density is over 74 mA/cm2 in acid electrolyte and 29 mA/cm2 in alkaline electrolyte. Moreover, the waste-derived carbon substrate could effectively promote HER activity of other dual 3d TMOs such as Fe and Co, Fe and Ni. The improved HER activity originates from electron transfer, electronic structure adjustment and optimization of intermediates adsorption according to X -ray photoelectron spectroscopy and density functional theory calculations. This work provides a new insight for converting wastes into value-added products and a sustainable and friendly strategy to facilitate hydrogen energy production.