Extraordinarily high hydrogen-evolution-reaction activity of corrugated graphene nanosheets derived from biomass rice husks

The metal-free carbonaceous catalysts are one of the promising candidates for efficient electrocatalytic hydrogen production. Aiming at demonstrating the high electrocatalytic activity of the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), we synthesized the biomass rice husk-derived corrugated graphene (RH-CG) nanosheets via the KOH activation. The 700 °C-activated RH-CG nanosheets exhibited the large specific surface area as well as the high electrical conductivity. When using the RH-CG nanosheets as a HER electrocatalyst in 0.5 M H₂SO₄, the excellent HER activities with a small overpotential (9 mV at 10 mA/cm²) and a small Tafel slope (31 mV/dec) were achieved. The results provide a new strategy for materializing the superb biomass-derived electrocatalyst for highly efficient hydrogen production.