Pt nanoparticles planted on polydopamine-derived curved carbon substrate from free-standing TiO2 nanosheets for hydrogen evolution reaction

Curved carbon structure can modulate the interaction between the catalyst and the reaction intermediates and enhance the intrinsic activity of the catalyst. However, it remains a significant challenge to prepare curved carbon without surfactants or templates. Herein, we report a facile strategy to prepare curved carbon via mechanical shaking process with polydopamine (PDA) as a precursor. Then, uniformly dispersed Pt nanoparticles (Pt NPs) are planted in situ on the curved carbon structure from free-standing TiO 2 nanosheets (C-rPDA-Pt/TiO 2 NSs) to prepare ultralow Pt loading (13.4 μg cm −2 ) catalysts for acidic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). The mass activity of C-rPDA-Pt/TiO 2 NSs is tenfold higher than that of the planar carbon supported Pt catalyst (C-sPDA-Pt/TiO 2 NSs) and four times higher than that of 40 % commercial Pt/C catalyst at an applied voltage of −0.1 V. DFT calculations suggest that curved carbon structure effectively adjusts the electronic structure of Pt active sites, thereby achieving optimal Gibbs free energy for hydrogen evolution and enhancing HER performance.