Mohamed Barakat Zakaria Hegazy1,2,3, Mohamed Reda Berber4, Yusuke Yamauchi5,6, Amir Pakdel7, Rui Cao8, Ulf-Peter Apfel1,2. 1. Inorganic Chemistry I, Faculty for Chemistry and Biochemistry, Ruhr University Bochum, 44801 Bochum, Germany. 2. Fraunhofer Institute for Environmental, Safety and Energy Technology UMSICHT, 46047 Oberhausen, Germany. 3. Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Tanta University, 31527 Tanta, Egypt. 4. Chemistry Department, College of Science, Jouf University, Sakaka 2014, Saudi Arabia. 5. JST-ERATO Yamauchi Materials Space-Tectonics Project and International Research Center for Materials Nanoarchitechtonics (WPI-MANA), National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS), 1-1 Namiki, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0044, Japan. 6. School of Chemical Engineering and Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (AIBN), The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland 4072, Australia. 7. Department of Mechanical, Manufacturing & Biomedical Engineering, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin D02PN40, Ireland. 8. Key Laboratory of Applied Surface and Colloid Chemistry, Ministry of Education, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an 710119, China.
Abstract
Hydrogen production is a key driver for sustainable and clean fuels used to generate electricity, which can be achieved through electrochemical splitting of water in alkaline solutions. However, the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is kinetically sluggish in alkaline media. Therefore, it has become imperative to develop inexpensive and highly efficient electrocatalysts that can replace the existing expensive and scarce noble-metal-based catalysts. Herein, we report on the rational design of nonprecious heterostructured electrocatalysts comprising a highly conductive face-centered cubic nickel metal, a nickel sulfide (NiS) phase, and a reduced graphene oxide (rGO) doped with phosphorous (P), sulfur (S), and nitrogen (N) in one ordered heteromaterial named Ni/NiS/P,N,S-rGO. The Ni/NiS/P,N,S-rGO electrode shows the best performance toward HER in 1.0 M KOH media among all materials tested with an overpotential of 155 mV at 10.0 mA cm-2 and a Tafel slope of 135 mV dec-1. The performance is comparable to the herein used Pt/C-20% benchmark catalyst examined under the same experimental conditions. The chronoamperometry and chronopotentiometry measurements have reflected the high durability of the Ni/NiS/P,N,S-rGO electrode for technological applications. At the same time, the current catalyst showed a high robustness and structure retention after long-term HER performance, which is reflected by SEM, XRD, and XPS measurements.
Hydrogen produpan> class="Chemical">ction is a key driver for sustainable and clean fuels used to generate electricity, which can be achieved through electrochemical splitting of water in alkaline solutions. However, the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is kinetically sluggish in alkaline media. Therefore, it has become imperative to develop inexpensive and highly efficient electrocatalysts that can replace the existing expensive and scarce noble-metal-based catalysts. Herein, we report on the rational design of nonprecious heterostructured electrocatalysts comprising a highly conductive face-centered cubicnickelmetal, a nickel sulfide (NiS) phase, and a reduced graphene oxide (rGO) doped with phosphorous (P), sulfur (S), and nitrogen (N) in one ordered heteromaterial named Ni/NiS/P,N,S-rGO. The Ni/NiS/P,N,S-rGO electrode shows the best performance toward HER in 1.0 M KOH media among all materials tested with an overpotential of 155 mV at 10.0 mA cm-2 and a Tafel slope of 135 mV dec-1. The performance is comparable to the herein used Pt/C-20% benchmark catalyst examined under the same experimental conditions. The chronoamperometry and chronopotentiometry measurements have reflected the high durability of the Ni/NiS/P,N,S-rGO electrode for technological applications. At the same time, the current catalyst showed a high robustness and structure retention after long-term HER performance, which is reflected by SEM, XRD, and XPS measurements.
Authors: Haya A Abubshait; Shahid Iqbal; Samar A Abubshait; Mohammed T Alotaibi; Norah Alwadai; Nada Alfryyan; Hashem O Alsaab; Nasser S Awwad; Hala A Ibrahium Journal: RSC Adv Date: 2022-01-25 Impact factor: 3.361