Integration of Nitrogen-Doped Graphene Oxide Dots with Au Nanoparticles for Enhanced Electrocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution

Abstract

Platinum (Pt)-free catalysts play a significant role in renewable energy and water purification. However, their design and synthesis are challenging as they need to satisfy the increasing demands, low cost, and enhanced catalytic performance with high efficiency to effectively replace Pt-based materials. This work reports the enhanced catalytic efficiencies of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) in the presence of nitrogen-doped graphene oxide dots (NGODs) for hydrogen evolution in a 0.5 M H2SO4 electrolyte with a Tafel slope of 87 mV dec–1 and an overpotential of 145 mV vs RHE at 10 mA cm–2. In addition, the hybrid structure reveals the complete removal of organic pollutants with higher catalytic efficiencies as compared to Pt, Pd, and Rh hybrid catalysts. DFT calculations demonstrate that the observed high catalytic activity originates from the oxygen-containing groups present on NGODs and AuNPs. This study may open new avenues for developing scalable and economically viable hybrid systems.