Composite materials from N-doped porous carbon and CoSe2 as excellent electrocatalysts for the hydrogen evolution reaction

Abstract

In this work, the composites of CoSe₂ coating on N-doped porous carbon material (denoted as NPC) have been prepared by sol-gel method, and the loading amount was optimized. The results indicate that the activities of the composite catalysts have been greatly improved compared to each component thanks to the improvement of conductivity and dispersibility. Especially, the optimized catalyst CoSe₂/NPC-75 exhibited excellent HER catalytic performance under alkaline conditions, achieving a current density of 10 mA/cm² with only 74 mV of overpotential. This performance can be compared to precious Pt/C (20%) catalyst and is also superior to many highly-active analogous catalysts reported. The exceptional catalytic performance is attributed to the synergistic effects between CoSe₂ and NPC, and the electronic structure modifications induced by the N-doped carbon support. These innovations improve catalytic activity, durability, and charge transfer kinetics. This study highlights the potential of combining sol-gel synthesis, electrocatalysis, and nanomaterials engineering to develop cost-effective, high-performance electrocatalysts for hydrogen production.

Graphical Abstract

The composites of CoSe₂ coating on N-doped porous graphitized carbon material have been prepared by simple sol-gel method. The composite was endowed greatly improved conductivity and dispersibility. Furthermore, electronic structure modifications were induced by the N-doped carbon support. Thanks to the above factors, the optimized catalyst exhibited excellent electrocatalytic activity for hydrogen evolution reaction comparable to that of Pt/C (20%) under alkaline conditions.