In situ fabrication of hierarchical NiX@CNT: An efficient bifunctional electrocatalyst for water splitting

Abstract

Developing efficient, durable, and precious metal-free electrocatalysts is currently a huge challenge. In this article, through a simple one-step high-temperature pyrolysis method, by incorporating various non-metallic element atoms, we prepared four different NiX(X=Cl₂, (CH₃COO)₂, (NO₃)₂, SO₄)@CNT catalysts. Additionally, by adjusting the temperature, these four materials were expanded into twelve catalyst materials for comparative optimization of hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) activity. Ultimately, Ni(NO₃)₂@CNT-900 typically exhibits superior OER and HER activity. In 1 mol/L KOH solution with a current density of 10 mA/cm², the overpotentials of HER and OER of Ni(NO₃)₂@CNT-900 are only 145 mV and 300 mV, respectively. Furthermore, the Ni(NO₃)₂@CNT-900 shows excellent durability in both HER and OER.

Keywords

water splitting / electrocatalysts / hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) / oxygen evolution reaction (OER)

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Central South University