Enhanced green H2 generation using biomass-derived nitrogen-doped carbon dots incorporated with rare earth metal hydroxide [Gd(OH)3] nanorods

Metal support interaction with carbonaceous electrodes as a heterogeneous catalyst is a trendy study area for boosting electrocatalysis with better conductivity, outstanding stability, and faster kinetics. By harnessing the power of defects caused by hetero-atom doping, interfacial effects, spatial confinement with a metal hydroxide, and the combination of two different dimensional materials, n-CDs@Gd(OH)3 exhibits an overpotential of 0.062 V with Tafel slope of 65 mV/dec at 10 mA/cm2 of current density, as well as a longer hydrogen evolution reaction endurance of 25 h. We attempted to relate it to heterogeneous material activity descriptors like surface potential and work function using a Scanning Kelvin Probe. This effect results in a 200-times reduction in resistance, particularly a 9.7 U reduction for 0.007 V change in charge transfer resistance. This study demonstrates that overcoming the primary challenges and enhancement of green hydrogen production can be achievable by rare earth metal combinations.(c) 2023 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.