Highly efficient hydrogen evolution reaction of Co3O4 supports on N-doped carbon nanotubes in an alkaline solution

Platinum group compounds are currently the best performance hydrogen evolution catalysts, but their high price and low abundance limit their large-scale applications. Therefore, noble-metal-free catalysts have become a focus in the research of hydrogen evolution reactions (HER). In this work, we developed a noble-metal-free HER catalyst consisting of Co3O4 supported on N-doped carbon nanotubes (Co3O4-NCTs). The Co3O4-NCT catalyst synthesized by stirring, heating, and high-temperature calcination was studied, showing a very low Tafel plot (32.3 mV dec−1) in an alkaline solution and good stability for hydrogen evolution reactions. In addition, the material synthesis method is simple, the experimental raw materials are cheap and easy to obtain, and it is expected to be suitable for large-scale industrial production.