RESUMEN
Developing an efficient catalytic system for electrolysis with reduced platinum (Pt) loading while maintaining performance comparable to bulk platinum metal is important to decrease costs and improve scalability of the hydrogen fuel economy. Here we report the performance of a novel sputter-deposited molybdenum (Mo) thin film with an extremely low co-loading of Pt, where Pt atoms were dispersed on Mo (Ptd-Mo) as an electrocatalyst for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) in either alkaline or acidic media. The Ptd-Mo electrocatalyst presents similar catalytic activity to bulk Pt in alkaline media, while the performance is only slightly decreased in acidic media. Differential electrochemical mass spectrometry (DEMS) results confirm that the Ptd-Mo electrocatalyst produced hydrogen at a rate comparable with that of a pristine Pt sample at the same potential. A comparison with Pt-loaded degenerately doped p-type doped silicon (Ptd-Si) suggests that Mo and Pt work synergistically to boost the performance of Ptd-Mo catalysts. Cyclic voltammetry (CV) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) before and after 1000 cycles of continuous operation confirm the significant durability of the Ptd-Mo performance. Overall, the Ptd-Mo electrocatalyst, with comparable HER activity to bulk Pt despite an ultra-low Pt loading, could be a strong candidate for hydrogen production in either acidic or basic conditions.
RESUMEN
In this work, we report a wafer-scale and chemical-free fabrication of nickel (Ni) and copper (Cu) heteroatomic Cu-Ni thin films using RF magnetron sputtering technique for non-enzymatic glucose sensing application. The as-prepared wafer-scale Cu-Ni thin films exhibits excellent electrocatalytic activity toward glucose oxidation with a 1.86 µM detection limit in the range of 0.01 mM to 20 mM range. The Cu-Ni film shows 1.3- and 5.4-times higher glucose oxidation activity in comparison to the Cu and Ni electrodes, respectively. The improved electrocatalytic activity is attributed to the synergistic effect of the bimetallic catalyst and high density of grain boundaries. The Cu-Ni electrodes also possessed excellent anti-interference characteristics. These results indicate that Cu-Ni heteroatomic thin film can be a potential candidate for the development of non-enzymatic glucose biosensor because of its chemical free synthesis, excellent reproducibility, reusability, and long-term stability.
