Hydrogen bubble-assisted growth of Pt3Te4 for electrochemical catalysts

Abstract

Novel materials and structures with abundant active sites have been in continuous demand for electrochemical catalytic applications. In this study, we synthesized platinum telluride (Pt3Te4) nanocrystals on two-dimensional metallic molybdenum ditelluride (MoTe2) using a dynamic hydrogen bubble template method in the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). The local crystal structure and chemical state of the Pt3Te4 nanocrystals were investigated using X-ray nano-diffraction and X-ray nano-absorption spectroscopy. In our electrochemical deposition method, the morphology, and HER performance of the Pt3Te4 nanocrystals could be manipulated through the hydrogen bubble generation rate. Thus, the nanorod-shaped Pt3Te4 nanocrystals, fabricated by a high rate of hydrogen bubble generation, exhibited outstanding HER performance, which is in contrast with the HER performance of hemisphere-shaped Pt3Te4. Our study provides a facile and systematic way of synthesizing high-performance electrochemical catalysts using the hydrogen bubble-assisted growth method.