Tungsten carbide microsphere as an electrode for cathodic hydrogen evolution from water

Tungsten carbide microsphere with hexagonal close-packed W2C structure was synthesized by a polymer-induced carburization method. The synthesis process and physicochemical properties were investigated and optimized to obtain uniform spherical morphology, high surface area and high chemisorption capacity. The tungsten carbide loaded with only 7.5 wt% of platinum was tested for cathodic hydrogen evolution from water and electrocatalytic activity was compared to commercial 20 wt% Pt/Vulcan XC-72R carbon (commercial E-Tek catalyst). The current density of W2C microsphere (without Pt) was much lower than the commercial E-Tek catalyst. But, when a small amount of platinum was loaded to the W2C microsphere, the current density became higher than that of the commercial E-Tek catalyst, demonstrating synergistic effect between Pt and W2C. The activity per mass of Pt for Pt/W2C was 2.3–3.2 times higher than that of E-Tek Pt/C catalyst.