Pinecone Biomass‐Derived Porous Carbon Structure for Hydrogen Evolution Reaction Electrodes Toward Wide pH‐Range

ABSTRACT Biomass‐derived carbon materials have become a highly ideal target for manufacturing more sustainable hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) catalysts due to their tunable porous structure and economic benefits. Herein, we synthesize a novel palladium (Pd) catalyst onto N‐doped biomass‐derived porous carbon (Pd‐NCPC) by a high‐temperature carbonization method, in which abandoned pinecones are the starting renewable material. By introducing heteroatoms N, the structural properties of the synthesized catalyst can be well adjusted, which significantly increases the defect density of the carbon material and promotes the highly dispersed anchoring of Pd nanoparticles. The Pd‐NCPC catalyst exhibits excellent HER activity, achieving 10 mA cm −2 with only 76 mV in 0.5 M H 2 SO 4 and 96 mV in 1 M KOH. Its performance is comparable to that of commercial Pt/C. This material exhibits extremely high stability in both acidic and alkaline environments, with almost no decrease in activity. This study not only provides a new approach for the high‐value‐added utilization of biomass waste but also provides a theoretical basis and experimental support for the development of low‐cost and efficient hydrogen evolution catalysts suitable for a wide pH range.