Hydrogen evolution reaction on tungsten carbide promoted Pt/C electrocatalysts

Tungsten carbide(WC) crystal promoted Pt/C(Pt-WC/C) as electrocatalyst of the hydrogen evolution reaction(HER) was analyzed.The results showed that the catalytic hydrogen evolution reaction performance of Pt-WC/C electrocatalyst was significantly improved compared to the Pt/C electrocatalyst.When the current density was 200 mA/cm2,the overpotential on the electrode loading 120 μg Pt-120 μg WC/C was lower about 60 mV compared to the electrode loading 240 μg Pt/C electrocatalyst.The catalytic activity of Pt-WC/C electrocatalyst was enhanced significantly by using less Pt.The hydrogen evolution performance could be enhanced by increasing H2SO4 concentration and the operating temperature.Kinetic study showed that the HER on the Pt-WC/C electrocatalyst had higher exchange current density and lower reaction activation free energy than that on the Pt/C electrocatalyst.