C/N-co-doped Pd coated Ag nanowires as a high-performance electrocatalyst for hydrogen evolution reaction

In the past few decades, much attention has been paid to developing electrocatalysts with low cost and high efficiency for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) because of its potential impact on the energy fields. Besides, recent research demonstrates that interfaces play an important role in the electrocatalytic process. Herein, C/N-co-doped Pd coated Ag (Ag@Pd) nanowires (NWs) were prepared through a calcination process. In this process, the C/N–Ag@Pd interfaces consisted by the Pd-N bonds and the core/shell structure of Ag@Pd were formed. The effect of the calcination temperature on the formation of the C/N–Ag@Pd interfaces were investigated in detail. Moreover, C/N-co-doped Ag@Pd NWs exhibited excellent catalytic activity for HER with a small overpotential of 111 mV to afford a current density of 10 mA cm−2, a low Tafel slope of 64 mV Dec−1 and good stability. The relationship between the HER activity and the C/N–Ag@Pd interfaces were built. Furthermore, such design principle for constructing interfaces between noble metal alloys and C/N by direct sintering can offer a new strategy for the developing more efficient electrocatalysts. C/N-co-doped Ag@Pd Nanowires prepared by constructing C/N-Ag@Pd interfaces shows excellent catalytic activity for hydrogen evolution reaction. [Display omitted] •A strategy for preparing C/N-co-doped Ag@Pd nanowires has been developed.•C/N-co-doped Ag@Pd nanowires exhibited excellent catalytic activity for HER.•The Pd-N bonds and the core/shell structure is critical for enhancing the HER activity.