Crystal Facet Engineering of Single-Crystalline TiC Nanocubes for Improved Hydrogen Evolution Reaction

摘要

Single-crystalline {100} faceted TiC is of great significance in theory to a large number of engineering applications owing to its extraordinary catalytic properties. However, the {111} planes are prevalent in conventional TiC powders given their favorable thermodynamic stability during the initial low stoichiometric growth stage. Herein, a disproportionation-decomposition strategy is developed to directly produce Ti and C atoms to synthesize single-crystalline {100} faceted TiC powders. Outstanding electrochemical performance of TiC {100} crystal planes in terms of the hydrogen evolution reaction is evidenced by an overpotential of 392 mV at 10 mA cm(-2), which is 52% lower than that of randomly faceted TiC counterparts (815 mV).