Enhanced photocatalytic hydrogen production of noble-metal free Ni-doped Zn(O,S) in ethanol solution

High efficient hydrogen evolved Ni-doped Zn(O,S) photocatalyst with different Ni amounts had been successfully synthesized with a simple method at low temperature. Our Ni-doped Zn(O,S) catalyst reached the highest hydrogen generation rate of 14,800 μmol g^?1 h^?1 or 0.92 mmol g^?1 h^?1 W^?1 corresponding to apparent quantum yield 31.5%, which was 2.3 times higher compared to the TiO₂/Pt used as a control in this work. It was found that a small amount of Ni doped into Zn(O,S) nanoparticles could increase the optical absorbance, lower the charge transfer resistance, accordingly decrease the electron-hole recombination rate, and significantly enhance the photocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). The as-prepared catalyst has the characteristics of low cost, low power consumption for activating the catalytic HER, abundant and environmental friendly constituents, and low surface oxygen bonding for forming oxygen vacancies. The photocatalytic performance of Ni-doped Zn(O,S) was demonstrated with a proposed kinetic mechanism in this paper.     

Nanoscale-mixed ZnNiCu hydroxide composite catalyst for improved photocatalytic hydrogen evolution

The advantage of a complex catalyst in which several catalysts are mixed is that the overall reaction rate can be efficiently increased by increasing each sub-reaction rate. Each constituent catalyst in the complex catalyst must be as well-mixed as possible—while maintaining high catalytic activity—owing to the short reaction time of these sub-reactions. This study reports a facile synthetic method to mix two catalysts homogeneously at the nanoscale while keeping their crystal structure intact. ZnNiCu hydroxide nanoplates with a mixed crystal structure composed of ZnNi and ZnCu hydroxides, which could promote H₂O dissociative adsorption and H₂ desorption, respectively, were synthesized by a simple cation exchange of ZnO nanoparticles and a precursor mixture of Ni and Cu. ZnNi and ZnCu hydroxides in the nanoplates were mixed at the nanoscale while maintaining their respective crystal structures; density functional theory calculations show that these structures could effectively perform H₂O dissociative adsorption and H₂ desorption, respectively, resulting in high activity in the overall photocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction.     

Effects of graphene oxide and sacrificial reagent for highly efficient hydrogen production with the costless Zn(O,S) photocatalyst

Searching for noble metal-free co-catalyst is still a strenuous part in photocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), as most of the great catalysts contain noble metals like the expensive platinum. The present work demonstrates a feasible synthesis method of Zn(O,S)/GO nanocomposite with graphene oxide (GO) to serve as an inexpensive co-catalyst. Raman spectra and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images clearly verified that GO was successfully loaded on the surface of Zn(O,S). This GO layer could effectively decrease the charge transfer resistance and promote the charge carrier separation for enhancing hydrogen production rate. By optimizing the GO content, the best hydrogen production rate of 2840 μg h⁻¹ was achieved with Zn(O,S)/0.5 wt% GO catalyst under 16 W UV lamp with illumination light at a wavelength of 352 nm, which showed about two times higher for GO-free Zn(O,S). The effect of sacrificial reagent on the hydrogen production rate of Zn(O,S)/0.5 wt% GO catalyst was also evaluated. The sacrificial reagent showed the efficiency with the following trend: ethanol > methanol > isopropanol > ethylene glycol. The mechanism for enhancing hydrogen production rate is elucidated in this paper. We consider the simple synthesis method and its low cost to make Zn(O,S)/GO a great potential for practical application.     

Mo(S,O)/(Ce,Mo)(S,O) sulfo-oxide with heterovalent metal states for efficient visible-light-driven hydrogen evolution and pollutant reduction via in-situ generated protons

The existence of the heterovalent metal states and S doping into Ce–Mo bimetallic oxide improve the photocatalytic activity by generating oxygen vacancy and narrowing the bandgap for suitable water splitting. Spherical and plate likes heterostructure Mo(S,O)/(Ce,Mo)(S,O) sulfo-oxide catalysts with heterovalent metal states and oxygen vacancy defects were synthesized by co-precipitation method for photocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction. Catalyst labeled as 1-CeMoOS with more oxygen vacancies and high Ce³⁺/(Ce³⁺+Ce⁴⁺) ratio evolved 405.18 μmol/h H₂ and achieved AQE of 13.72%, whereas reduced 76.43% 4-NP and 91.52% RhB by in-situ generated protons. S doping, oxygen vacancy creation, Ce and Mo heterovalent states have narrowed the bandgap by substituting oxygen with sulfur, promoted the photogenerated charge carriers' effective separation, and prolonged the lifetime of electrons. The oxygen vacancy formation with a subsequently partial Ce⁴⁺-to-Ce³⁺ conversion achieves CeMoOS catalysts with excellent PHER and provides a promising way to improve photocatalysts' visible light PHER activity.     

Reaction mechanism of in-situ vaporization catalytic reforming of aqueous bio-oil for hydrogen production

In order to explore the reaction mechanism of aqueous bio-oil catalytic reforming with an in-situ vaporization strategy, eight representative components of the aqueous bio-oil were selected as models to carry out experiments with a Ni/Al₂O₃ catalyst. The results showed high reforming conversion rates of the eight model compounds. However, the catalysts in the reaction system of methyl acetate and furfural showed obvious deactivation from the beginning of the reaction. The gas production characteristics at the start of the reaction indicated that the oxygen atoms in these molecules adsorbed by the oxygen vacancies on the catalyst surface were the key step to trigger the reforming reaction, and the [1OH]_ads adsorbed on the catalyst surface was the fuse to ignite the reforming reaction. Ethanol and acetone were typical intermediates in the catalytic reforming process of the eight compounds and were detected in the liquid products after the reaction. The characterization of coke on the catalyst surface showed that, at least two forms of coke were produced during catalytic reforming of the aqueous bio-oil. The fibrous coke resulting in the rapid deactivation of the catalyst was primarily derived from the components rich in “CO”. [C–CO] was the smallest unit generating fibrous coke, and the presence of [1OH]_ads significantly inhibited the growth of fibrous coke. This paper revealed the trigger mechanism and coke behavior of catalytic reforming of aqueous bio-oil for hydrogen production, providing an important theoretical basis for designing efficient catalysts and the subsequent process optimization.     

Stacked nano rods of cobalt and nickel based metal organic frame work of 2–amino benzene dicarboxylic acid for photocatalytic hydrogen generation

Stacked nanorods of cobalt and nickel based hetero bimetallic organic frameworks (MOFs) of 2–amino benzene dicarboxylic acid are developed as photocatalyst for hydrogen evolution reaction. The ratio of metals in the catalyst is tuned to achieve a narrow band gap, and the MOF with optimized Ni to Co ratio of 1: 0.5 (1Ni0.5Co@NH₂BDC) exhibited the lowest band gap (2.2 eV) and electron–hole recombination rate. The catalyst exhibits enhanced photocatalytic activity for hydrogen evolution reaction due to the absorption of photons by 2–amino benzene dicarboxylic acid and excitation of electrons from HOMO to LUMO of the organic linker. The excited electrons relay to the cluster of the framework and reduce the protons gather around the cluster to hydrogen. The holes in the HOMO state are occupied by the electrons from the sacrificial agents and it supports the photocatalytic hydrogen evolution by avoiding electron–hole recombination. The stability of MOF catalyst in water splitting medium even with sacrificial agents confirms its competency with the state–of–the–art photocatalytic materials.     

Study on the trigger mechanism and carbon behavior of catalytic reforming of wood vinegar

Wood vinegar is a by-product with complex components in the wood carbonization process. In this paper, catalytic reforming technology was employed for reutilize of wood vinegar with a Ni/CoAl₂O₄ catalyst. In order to clarify its trigger mechanism, instantaneous gases yield and components evolution were investigated at initial stage. Results showed that nearly all components in wood vinegar could efficiently participate in catalytic reforming reaction. The initiation of the catalytic reforming reaction was attributed to the cleavage of the O–H bonds caused by the adsorption of O atoms to oxygen vacancies on the surface of the catalyst. The C–H bonds could also be broken under the action of oxygen vacancies to produce hydrogen; however, the metallic carbide accompanying was the primary cause of catalyst deactivation.     

Nitrogen,sulfur, and oxygen tri-doped carbon nanosheets as efficient multifunctional electrocatalysts for Zn-air batteries and water splitting

Nitrogen, sulfur, and oxygen tri-doped carbon nanosheets (N, S, O-CNs) were prepared by a modified in-situ g-C₃N₄ template method with a plant-waste, rice straw, as the carbon precursor. The N, S, O-CNs could worked as efficient electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), oxygen evolution reaction (OER), and hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Significantly, the introduced S element can particularly activate the electron transfer and accelerate reaction kinetics for HER, while the N/O dopants can efficiently promote the ORR and OER. As a result, the N, S, O-CNs exhibited excellent performance with favorable kinetics and decent durability as a multifunctional ORR, OER and HER catalyst. Moreover, the rechargeable liquid/solid Zn−air battery and water splitting device showed superior performance by assembling this N, S, O-CNs catalyst. This work paves a universal avenue towards further development of plant-waste derived carbon materials with heteroatom dopants as the highly efficient electrocatalysts in energy devices.     

Novel hydrogen-doped SrSnO3 perovskite with excellent optoelectronic properties as a potential photocatalyst for water splitting

Developing and designing novel electrodes for photocatalytic water splitting using computational analysis has become a crucial interest recently through bulk and surface calculations of the investigated materials. Doping wide band gap metal oxides has proven to be an efficient method for optical properties enhancement and band gap engineering. Herein, first-principles calculations were employed to investigate the possibility to engineer the optical and structural properties of SrSnO₃ perovskite as a potential catalyst for photo-driven hydrogen production. Specifically, the synergistic effect of hydrogen doping and oxygen vacancies (O_V) on the optoelectronic properties of SrSnO₃ was for the first time investigated and discussed in detail. The interstitial hydrogen defects (H_i) are energetically favorable compared with the substitutional hydrogen defects. Mono- and co-hydrogen occupied oxygen vacancies sites were further examined. Interstitial hydrogen doping was found to introduce a shallow defect state below the conduction band minimum (CBM) forming a band tailing and increasing the dielectric constant. Thus, it could be used in gate dielectric applications. The created defect states upon doping were found to depend directly on the defect site and the defect concentration. At high concentration of oxygen vacancies defect, the H_OV-O_V structural configuration showed localized and shallow defect states with a band gap of 1.3 eV below the CBM. It also considerably increased the dielectric constant with optical absorption enhancement, compared to the pristine SrSnO₃ counterpart. With optimum Gibbs free energy of hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and theoretical band gap straddling of the oxygen and hydrogen evolution potentials, low exciton binding energy, and high permittivity, the H_OV-O_V structure is an ideal novel candidate catalyst for photocatalytic water splitting.     

Banana peel biowaste-derived carbon composited with Zn(O,S) for solar-light photocatalytic hydrogen generation

Banana peels-derived porous carbon has been synthesized with urea and potassium carbonate mixture and annealed at 700 ? C to decrease the size of carbon particles. The as-prepared carbon is composited with Zn(O,S) to form Zn(O,S)/C with different carbon contents of 1, 2.5, and 5 wt%. All the nanocomposites are identified with XRD, SEM, Raman, TEM, XPS, FTIR, and EPR analyses. The optical and electrochemical properties are also analyzed with DRS, Tauc plot, PL, EIS, TPC, MS, and CV measurements. Furthermore, the amounts of generated hydrogen gas are evaluated in the presence of Zn(O,S), ZC-1, ZC-2.5, and ZC-5 nanocomposites under simulated solar light irradiation. ZC-2.5 with an appropriate amount of banana peels carbon generates 9232 μmol/g in a 5-h photocatalytic reaction. The HER rate is enhanced by 1.7 times compared to pristine Zn(O,S). Incorporating low-cost banana peels carbon improves the separation between photogenerated electron and hole as the active site of carbon in ZC-2.5 attract the electron for hydrogen reduction. In addition, the generated V_o sites on Zn(O,S) during the photocatalytic reaction also increase the water and alcohol oxidation to scavenger the generated holes. This work designed a simple catalytic system with low-cost and environmentally-friendly material to provide an alternative energy source by harvesting solar light energy.     

Synthesis of novel activated carbon-supported trimetallic Pt–Ru–Ni nanoparticles using wood chips as efficient catalysts for the hydrogen generation from NaBH4 and enhanced photodegradation on methylene blue

A novel activated carbon (AC) supported trimetallic Platinum–Ruthenium–Nickel nanoparticles (AC@Pt–Ru–Ni NPs) synthesized as an efficient catalyst for hydrogen production from NaBH₄ and enhanced photodegradation ability on methylene blue (MB) dye is reported. AC, which is used as a support material in nanoparticle synthesis, was produced from wood chips. X-ray diffractometry (XRD), atomic force microscope (AFM), Fourier transform infrared spectrophotometer (FTIR), Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM), and UV–visible spectrophotometer (UV–Vis) are used for nanoparticles characterization. According to XRD analysis, the average crystal particle size was measured to be about 3.44 nm. In TEM analysis, the average particle size was determined as 2.44 nm. The photocatalytic activity of AC@Pt–Ru–Ni NPs was examined against MB azo dye and found to have 97% photocatalytic degradation at 300 min against MB. The catalyst activity of AC@Pt–Ru–Ni NPs in hydrogen production was determined by the methanolysis reaction from NaBH₄. The Turnover of Frequency (TOF), Activation energy (Ea), enthalpy (ΔH), and entropy values (ΔS) values of the hydrogen production reaction were calculated as 1154.04 h⁻¹, 24.29 kJ/mol, 26.83 kJ/mol, −198.76 J/mol.K, respectively. The study successfully achieved the recycling of wood waste, production of hydrogen, and photodegradation against MB dye. In this study, wood wastes were evaluated and it was aimed to be used in AC production and nanocatalyst synthesis. The efficiency of the synthesized AC@PtRuNi nanocatalyst in hydrogen production and its usability for cleaning dyes from wastewater was determined. The obtained results show that AC@PtRuNi nanocatalyst has potential usability both in hydrogen production and in applications for cleaning dyes from wastewater.     

Role of molecular oxygen on the synthesis of Ni(OH)2/TiO2 photocatalysts and its effect on solar hydrogen production activity

Molecular oxygen performs a vital role in the photocatalytic activity of anatase TiO₂, but there is a little experimental insight into the role of molecular oxygen on the synthesis of TiO₂ based photocatalysts. Herein, we have shown that Ni(OH)₂/TiO₂ prepared in the presence and absence of molecular oxygen results in significantly varied hydrogen production activity. The sample synthesized in the presence of O₂ and N₂ produced 6624 μmol/h/g and 4468 μmol/h/g of hydrogen under direct solar light exposure. Additionally, the samples prepared in the presence of light irradiation produced 8289 μmol/h/g of hydrogen, a 72 fold jump in hydrogen production compared to TiO₂. XPS, FTIR, Raman, and ESR measurements were carried out to investigate the underlined mechanism for such variation in the photocatalytic activity. Our results suggest that the presence of molecular oxygen during Ni(OH)₂/TiO₂ synthesis causes the formation of terminal OH and reduced the oxygen vacancies on the surface of TiO₂, which can significantly alter the H₂ production. Also, the reusability of the photocatalysts is greatly affected by the synthesis conditions, namely the presence of light and molecular oxygen.     

Hydrogen production from methane under the interaction of catalytic partial oxidation,water gas shift reaction and heat recovery

Hydrogen production from the combination of catalytic partial oxidation of methane (CPOM) and water gas shift reaction (WGSR), viz. the two-stage reaction, in a Swiss-roll reactor is investigated numerically. Particular emphasis is placed on the interaction among the reaction of CPOM, the cooling effect due to steam injection and the excess enthalpy recovery with heat recirculation. A rhodium (Rh) catalyst bed sitting at the center of the reactor is used to trigger CPOM, and two different WGSRs, with the aids of a high-temperature (Fe–Cr-based) shift catalyst and a low-temperature (Cu–Zn-based) shift catalyst, are excited. Two important parameters, including the oxygen/methane (O/C) ratio and the steam/methane (S/C) ratio, affecting the efficiencies of methane conversion and hydrogen production are taken into account. The predictions indicate that the O/C ratio of 1.2 provides the best production of H₂ from the two-stage reaction. For a fixed O/C ratio, the H₂ yield is relatively low at a lower S/C ratio, stemming from the lower performance of WGSR, even though the cooling effect of steam is lower. On the contrary, the cooling effect becomes pronounced as the S/C ratio is high to a certain extent and the lessened CPOM leads to a lower H₂ yield. As a result, with the condition of gas hourly space velocity (GHSV) of 10,000 h⁻¹, the optimal operation for hydrogen production in the Swiss-roll reactor is suggested at O/C = 1.2 and S/C = 4–6.     

Utilization of photocatalytic hydrogen evolved (Zn,Sn)(O,S) nanoparticles to reduce 4-nitrophenol to 4-aminophenol

To reduce 4-nitrophenol (4-NP) to 4-aminophenol (4-AP) using sodium borohydrate (NaBH₄) in the presence of catalyst has been widely accepted in catalysis field. Many works have claimed that the reduction reaction cannot occur without using NaBH₄ as a reducing agent. Herein, we reported the hydrogen evolved Sn(II)-doped Zn(O,S) photocatalyst was synthesized by using precipitation method at 90 °C and then utilized to completely reduce 30 ppm 4-NP to 4-AP under 4 × 6 W UV lamp illumination (0.088 mW/cm²) in 3 h without using NaBH₄ as a hydrogen source. It was observed that pure Zn(O,S) nanoparticles did not exhibit a 4-NP reduction, however Zn(O,S) with Sn(II) cation doping showed a 4-NP reduction behavior, as indicated by UV–vis absorbance and HPLC results. The role of Sn(II) doped into Zn(O,S) is considerably important to enhance the amount of photo-induced hydrogen ions for reducing 4-NP to 4-AP on catalyst surfaces.     

Oxygen vacancy induced Pt-decorated MOF photocatalyst for hydrogen production

The photocatalytic performance has remained challenging due to the rapid recombination of photoexcited electron-hole (e-h) pairs. To overcome this problem, creating oxygen vacancies on the surface of semiconductors has been an effective strategy. Herein, we report the effects of oxygen vacancies (Ov) on photocatalytic HER performance of Pt nanoparticles (NPs) anchored on UiO-66-NH₂. In contrast, under the same amount of Pt NPs, UiO-66-NH₂ with high oxygen vacancies (denoted as Pt/UN-Ovh) exhibit superior photocatalytic H₂ generation than the catalyst with low oxygen vacancies (denoted as Pt/UN-Ovl) under visible-light irradiation. Based on the experimental characterization and theoretical calculations, the high oxygen vacancies not only stabilize the Pt NPs on the substrate (UiO-66-NH₂), but also develop the strong interaction between Pt NPs and support thereby Pt NPs traps more electrons from substrate and provides protons for H₂ production inhibiting the electron-hole recombination. This work provides novel strategy for enhancing the photocatalysts performance of MOF based materials.     

Mixed-metal organic framework-coated ZnO nanowires array for efficient photoelectrochemical water oxidation

Designing of high-performance photoanodes is essential for efficient solar energy conversion in photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting. Herein, we report an effective approach to synthesize three dimensional (3D) mixed-metal organic framework-coated ZnO nanowires array (ZnNi MOF@ZnO) for the effective PEC performance. The ZnO nanowires act as photon absorber as well as rapid charge transporter; whilst the ZnNi MOF provides the active sites for PEC process by lowering the energy barrier of water oxidation and suppressing electron-hole recombination. The 3D nanostructure of ZnNi MOF@ZnO nanowires array provides intimate interfacial contact through covalent interactions between the ZnNi MOF and ZnO nanowires which facilitates the rapid charge transfer during photocatalytic oxygen evolution reactions. As a result, the ZnNi MOF@ZnO nanowires array exhibited excellent photoelectrochemical water oxidation with very low onset potential (0.31 V vs. RHE) and high photocurrent density (1.40 mA/cm²) as compared to the Zn MOF @ZnO and ZnO nanowires array. This facile strategy provides a promising direction towards high performance photoanode design for adequate solar energy conversion.     

Homogeneously dispersed cobalt/iron electrocatalysts with oxygen vacancies and favorable hydrophilicity for efficient oxygen evolution reaction

Rational design of highly conductive and hydrophilic electrocatalysts are extremely important to promote their oxygen evolution reaction (OER). In this work, a homogeneously dispersed carbon-based cobalt/iron catalyst (Co/Fe–C) with abundant oxygen vacancies and favorable hydrophilicity is fabricated via a facile metal-polyphenol complexes strategy. The tannic acid (TA) and fulvic acid (FA) derived 0.3 Co/Fe–C catalysts show greatly similar morphologies, as well as the performance optimization process of electrocatalytic OER. Specifically, the TA-derived 0.3 Co/Fe–C catalyst exhibits an overpotential of 284 mV at 10 mA cm^?2 for OER in alkaline electrolyte. Combined a series of characterization techniques suggest that abundant oxygen vacancies and favorable surface hydrophilicity can improve electronic conductivity of the catalyst and accelerate reactant adsorption and charge transfer rate on the catalyst surface, thus promoting OER activity of the catalysts. This study might provide a new perspective to construct advanced electrocatalysts with oxygen vacancies and hydrophilic surface for electrocatalytic applications.     

Performance of gas-phase photocatalytic reactors on hydrogen production

Three types of high-performance photocatalytic reactors were developed for gas-phase photocatalytic hydrogen (H₂) production from hydrogen sulphide (H₂S) and effective photocatalytic decomposition of gaseous H₂S at a very low concentration is investigated. In this paper, three lab-scale photocatalytic reactors viz., packed bed photocatalytic reactor, catalyst coated fixed bed photocatalytic reactor and catalyst dispersed photocatalytic reactors were developed to study the performance of reactors on hydrogen production. The novel photocatalyst (CdS + ZnS)/Fe₂O₃ and the optimized catalyst dosage, H₂S gas flow rate, pollutant concentration, light irradiations were used. The experimental result indicates that packed bed photocatalytic reactor can effectively splits the H₂S into hydrogen (i.e. 98%) and rapidly decompose H₂S toward zero concentration than the other two reactors. Hence the bench-scale photocatalytic reactor was fabricated in packed bed reactor and the maximum hydrogen conversion achieved from hydrogen sulphide was found to be 98%.     

Dry reforming of methane with isotopic gas mixture over Ni-based pyrochlore catalyst

Dry reforming of methane was carried out using isotopic ¹³CO₂ and C¹⁸O₂ gases over a Ni-based pyrochlore catalyst that was synthesized using the modified Pechini method. In this method, 1 wt% Ni was doped into the La₂Zr₂O₇ pyrochlore structure. The catalyst was characterized by H₂-TPR, TPO, and XRD and tested for its methane reforming activity under CO₂ dry-reforming reaction conditions.The results of repeated TPR/TPO cycles up to 950 °C showed that the consecutive TPR profiles were nearly identical, indicating that the catalyst was stable at high temperatures, and that the nickel oxidation/reduction processes were reversible. The dry-reforming experimental results using labelled ¹³CO₂ gas showed the syngas production for this material proceeded through the activation of CH₄ with O that came from breaking one of the CO bonds of CO₂ with the latter reaction (CO₂ activation) likely occurring at oxygen vacancies at or near the Ni particle-pyrochlore interface. It was also found that only a small portion of the CO originated from CH₄. A variation of the same experimental test, but using ¹²C¹⁸O₂, revealed only ¹²C¹⁸O was formed and no ¹²C¹⁶O was detected, ruling out the possibility of reaction with the lattice oxygen in the catalyst structure with this material. Over this catalyst, the activated CH₄ appeared to dissociate to elemental carbon on the catalyst surface, which was determined to be the source of carbon from a post reaction TPO of the catalyst that was exposed to the ¹³CO₂¹²CH₄ mixture. No carbon deposition appeared to originate from ¹³CO₂.     

Effect of C-felt supported Ni,Co and NiCo catalysts to produce hydrogen

In this study, the carbon felt (C-felt) is used as the catalyst support for Ni, Co and NiCo coatings. Single Ni, Co and binary NiCo coatings are electrochemically deposited on a C-felt. Surface structure of coatings was characterized by cyclic voltammetry (CV), atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The electrocatalytic activity of the coatings for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) was studied in 1.00 M KOH solution using cathodic current-potential curves, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and electrolysis techniques. The results show that since carbon felt has fiber and network structure, and this structure is enhanced the hydrogen evolution. Deposition of nickel, and cobalt on C-felt is enhanced the hydrogen production. Furthermore, NiCo catalyst exhibits much higher activity for HER. Its catalytic activity is related to the fiber and network structure of C-felt, porosity and the loaded NiCo can interact with each other and cooperate on improving the HER activity.