Rare earth (RE) materials such as neodymium (Nd) and others consist of unique electronic configurations which result in unique electronic, electrochemical, and photonic properties. The high temperature (>1100 °C) growth and low active surface areas of REs hinder their use as an efficient electrocatalyst. Herein, different morphologies of Nd were successfully fabricated in situ on the surface of graphene using a double-zone chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method. The morphology of the Nd material on graphene is controlled, which results in the significant enhancement of the large specific surface area and electrochemical active area of the composite material due to the spatial morphology of Nd, thereby improving the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) performance in an alkaline medium. The significantly enhanced HER activity with an overpotential of 75 mV and a Tafel slope of 95 mV dec⁻¹ at a current density of 10 mA cm⁻² is observed in Nd-GF. Mainly, a high specific surface area of ∼2217 cm² g⁻¹ and the porosity of graphene play major roles in the enhancement of activity. Thus, the present work provides a new strategy for the neodymium engineering synthesis of efficient rare earth-graphene composite electrocatalysts with a high electrochemical active area.

中文翻译：

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钕装饰的石墨烯作为一种高效的制氢电催化剂

稀土 (RE) 材料，例如钕 (Nd) 和其他材料，由独特的电子配置组成，从而产生独特的电子、电化学和光子特性。REs 的高温（> 1100 °C）生长和低活性表面积阻碍了它们作为高效电催化剂的使用。在此，原位成功制备了不同形貌的 Nd使用双区化学气相沉积 (CVD) 方法在石墨烯表面上。控制石墨烯上 Nd 材料的形貌，由于 Nd 的空间形貌，使得复合材料的大比表面积和电化学活性面积显着增强，从而提高了析氢反应（HER）性能。碱性介质。在 Nd-GF 中观察到显着增强的 HER 活性，在 10 mA cm ^-2的电流密度下具有 75 mV 的过电位和 95 mV dec ^-1的 Tafel 斜率。主要是~2217 cm ² g ^-1的高比表面积石墨烯的孔隙率在增强活性方面起着重要作用。因此，目前的工作为钕工程合成具有高电化学活性面积的高效稀土-石墨烯复合电催化剂提供了新的策略。