Boosting HER performance by using plasma prepared N-doped CNTs to support Pt nanoparticles

Developing highly-efficient and stable Pt-based catalysts towards alkaline hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) offers a promising strategy for future renewable energy. In this work, radio-frequency (RF) cold plasma-prepared N-doped MWCNTs were adopted to support Pt nanoparticles (NPs) (Pt/NCNTs) via pretreating MWCNTs with RF nitrogen plasma and combining with traditional thermal reduction method. The as-synthesized Pt/NCNT featured an ultra-small size of Pt NPs (1.5 nm) and plentiful doped nitrogen, exhibiting ultra-low overpotential of 28 mV@10 mA cm −2 and ultra-high mass activity of 3.2 A mg Pt −1 @100 mA in 1 M KOH solution, which are superior to those of commercial 20 wt% Pt/C catalyst. This is because RF plasma can realize fast, high-efficient and specific N-doping structure of MWCNTs. The lone electron pairs of N species (mainly pyri-N and pyrr-N) on MWCNTs surface transfer to the empty orbitals of Pt NPs, forming a strong coordination effect between Pt and nitrogen, thereby boosting the alkaline HER catalytic performance.