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. 2016 Jul 22;7:12272. doi: 10.1038/ncomms12272

Figure 2. The electrochemical activity of different electrocatalysts in oxygen-free 0.5 M H2SO4.

Figure 2

(a) LSV plots of metal/SiNW catalysts containing about 30 wt% metal. The metal type is indicated. The LSV of 40 wt% Pt/C is also shown. 29.1 wt% Rh/SiNW has the best HER activity of all metal/SiNW catalysts. (b) LSV plots of Rh/SiNW catalysts with different Rh wt% with the 59.9 wt% the best one. (c) LSV plots of SiNWs, pure Rh, 29.1 wt% Rh/SiNW, and 20 and 40 wt% Pt/C. The HER activity of 40 wt% Pt/C is better than that of 20 wt% Pt/C, so only the 40 wt% Pt/C data was used as a reference to the Rh/SiNW data. The HER activity of 29.1 wt% Rh/SiNW is worse than that of 40 wt% Pt/C for V>−160 mV but is better for V<−160 mV. (d) Tafel plots and Tafel slopes derived from c. The Tafel slopes are 145, 40, 30 and 24 mV dec−1 for SiNWs, pure Rh, 40 wt% Pt/C and 29.1 wt% Rh/SiNW, respectively. The Tafel slope of 29.1 wt% Rh/SiNW is smaller than that of 40 wt% Pt/C indicating the better HER performance of 29.1 wt% Rh/SiNW.