Atomic-Scale Confined Synthesis of Ultrathin W2C Nanowires in Single-Wall Carbon Nanotubes for the High-Performance Hydrogen Evolution Reaction
- 14 May 2025
- journal article
- Published by American Chemical Society (ACS) in Nano Letters
- Vol. 25 (21) , 8612-8618
Abstract
Phase-pure ultrafine W2C nanostructures are promising electrocatalysts but face synthesis challenges due to unclear formation mechanisms and harsh thermodynamics. Here, we reveal the formation mechanism of ultrathin W2C nanowires (NWs) confined in the cavity of single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) at the atomic scale by combined in situ transmission electron microscopy and density functional theory calculations. It was found that the hollow core of SWCNTs can control the phase, axial orientation, and diameter of W2C NWs. Leveraging this mechanism, we synthesized SWCNT-encapsulated W2C NWs, WS2-W2C heterostructures, and WS2 NWs (1D@1D), which assembled into free-standing hybrid films. The integrated W2C NWs@SWCNT membrane was primarily tested, exhibiting a low overpotential of 44 mV to reach a current density of 10 mA cm-2 and outstanding durability (500 h at a high current density of 250 mA cm-2 in acidic conditions).Keywords
Funding Information
- National Key Research and Development Program of China (2022YFA1203303)
- National Natural Science Foundation of China (52072376, 52130209, 52472054)
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