Abstract
It has become highly necessary to advance stable, cost-effective, and energy-efficient hydrogen production using non-precious metal-based water electrolysis to replace the increasing demand for fossil fuels and maintain environmental safety. Herein, we present the synthesis of non-precious bimetallic Ni1-xFex-layered hydroxide nanosheet films by using a chemical-bath deposition technique for use as oxygen evolution reaction (OER) catalysts for electrochemical water electrolysis. Remarkably, the optimized Ni0.50Fe0.50-layered hydroxide electrode exhibited excellent OER activity in 1 M potassium hydroxide electrolyte while having a low overpotential of 239.7 mV at a current density of 10 mA cm−2 with a small Tafel slope of 38.02 mV dec−1. It was electrochemically stable over 100 hours of continuous OER operation, thereby showing its excellent electrochemical stability. The results from a post-OER study reveal that catalytically active OER sites are associated with the formation of a nickel oxyhydroxide intermediate on the surface of the electrode. The maximum synergy among good electronic conductivity, high diffusion coefficient, and enlarged electrochemically active sites was obtained by optimizing the Ni/Fe ratio and thereby, the OER activity.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 16963-16972 |
Number of pages | 10 |
Journal | International Journal of Energy Research |
Volume | 45 |
Issue number | 11 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Sep 2021 |
Keywords
- electrocatalysis
- NiFe layered hydroxide
- oxygen evolution reaction
- water splitting