02139nas a2200253   4500008004100000022001400041245016900055210006900224260000800293300001400301490000600315520119100321653001901512653003001531653002001561653003201581653002801613100002801641700002501669700001801694700002101712700002401733856012801757       2017                        eng d  a2196-021600aNitrogen-doped graphene with a three-dimensional architecture assisted by carbon nitride tetrapods as an efficient metal-free electrocatalyst for hydrogen evolution0 aNitrogendoped graphene with a threedimensional architecture assi  cOCT  a2643-26520 v43 aCurrent polymer membrane-based electrolyzers use Pt as a cathode catalyst for efficient reduction of water. The high cost of Pt-based catalysts forces researchers to develop alternative electrocatalysts. Here, a simple strategy has been proposed to synthesize a metal-free electrocatalyst for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) by high-temperature annealing of graphene oxide-coated melamine foam. The prepared catalyst possesses both structural and functional advantages with its three-dimensional (3D) interconnected arms of carbon nitride (CNx) backbone wrapped with nitrogen-doped graphene (N-RGO) sheets (CNx@N-RGO). CNx@N-RGO faces only a 193 mV overpotential to achieve a current density of 10mAcm(-2), which is far superior to the previously reported Pt-free systems. Along with the high exchange current density 34.7 x 10(-6)A cm(-2) and low Tafel slope of 54 mV dec(-1), CNx@N-RGO follows a Volmer-Heyrovsky mechanism for the HER. DFT calculations show that the synergy between CNx and N-RGO facilitates good electrical coupling between the two moieties and provides optimal binding to H+ ions on the catalyst that, in turn, results in efficient reduction of hydrogen ions.10acarbon nitride10aDensity functional theory10aelectrocatalyst10ahydrogen evolution reaction10anitrogen doped graphene1 aGangadharan, Pranav, K.1 aUnni, SreeKuttan, M.1 aKumar, Nandha1 aGhosh, Prasenjit1 aKurungot, Sreekumar  uhttps://library.ncl.res.in/content/nitrogen-doped-graphene-three-dimensional-architecture-assisted-carbon-nitride-tetrapods