Vignan University

About: Vignan University is a education organization based out in Guntur, Andhra Pradesh, India. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Control theory & CMOS. The organization has 1138 authors who have published 1381 publications receiving 7798 citations.

N-, O-, and S-Tridoped Carbon-Encapsulated Co9S8 Nanomaterials: Efficient Bifunctional Electrocatalysts for Overall Water Splitting

Abstract: The development of highly active and stable earth-abundant catalysts to reduce or eliminate the reliance on noble-metal based ones in green and sustainable (electro)chemical processes is nowadays of great interest. Here, N-, O-, and S-tridoped carbon-encapsulated Co9S8 (Co9S8@NOSC) nanomaterials are synthesized via simple pyrolysis of S- and Co(II)-containing polypyrrole solid precursors, and the materials are proven to serve as noble metal-free bifunctional electrocatalysts for water splitting in alkaline medium. The nanomaterials exhibit remarkable catalytic performances for oxygen evolution reaction in basic electrolyte, with small overpotentials, high anodic current densities, low Tafel slopes as well as very high (nearly 100%) Faradic efficiencies. Moreover, the materials are found to efficiently electrocatalyze hydrogen evolution reaction in acidic as well as basic solutions, showing high activity in both cases and maintaining good stability in alkaline medium. A two-electrode electrolyzer assembled using the material synthesized at 900 °C (Co9S8@NOSC-900) as an electrocatalyst at both electrodes gives current densities of 10 and 20 mA cm−2 at potentials of 1.60 and 1.74 V, respectively. The excellent electrocatalytic activity exhibited by the materials is proposed to be mainly due to the synergistic effects between the Co9S8 nanoparticles cores and the heteroatom-doped carbon shells in the materials.

Ag@CoxP Core–Shell Heterogeneous Nanoparticles as Efficient Oxygen Evolution Reaction Catalysts

Abstract: We present a facile synthetic method that yields Ag@CoxP core–shell-type heterogeneous nanostructures with excellent oxygen evolution reaction (OER) activity. This nanocatalyst can deliver a current density of 10 mA/cm2 at a small overpotential of 310 mV and exhibits high catalytic stability. Additionally, the catalytic activity of Ag@CoxP is 8 times higher than that of the Co2P nanoparticles, owing primarily to the strong electronic interaction between the Ag core and the CoxP shell.