In situ Construction of Free-Standing High-Performance Ni-Based Dual Intermetallic Composites for Alkaline Hydrogen Evolution

Abstract

Alkaline electrolytic hydrogen production has emerged as one of the most practical methods for industrial-scale hydrogen production. However, the initial hydrolysis dissociation in alkaline media impedes the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) kinetics of commercial catalysts. To overcome this limitation, this study focuses on the development of a highly efficient electrocatalyst for alkaline HER. Ni-based intermetallic compounds exhibit remarkable catalytic activity for HER, with the NiMo alloy being among the most active catalysts in alkaline environments. Here, we designed and fabricated self-supported multiscale porous NiZn/NiMo intermetallic compounds on a metal foam substrate using a versatile dealloying method. The resulting electrode exhibits excellent HER activity, achieving an overpotential of just 204 mV at 1000 mA/cm², and demonstrates robust long-term catalytic stability, maintaining performance at 100 mA/cm² for 400 h in an alkaline electrolyte. These findings underscore the potential of nanosized intermetallic compounds fabricated via a dealloying approach to deliver exceptional catalytic performance for alkaline water electrolysis.

Graphical Abstract

The NiZn/NiMo double intermetallic composite is fabricated via aversatile dealloying route. Leveraging the high intrinsic activity of theintermetallic and the increased density of active sites provided bymultiscale porous architecture, the resulting NiZn/NiMo electrode exhibitssignificantly lower overpotential and long-term catalytic stability towardalkaline HER. The intermetallic electrode demonstrates unique intrinsiccatalytic activity for HER and exceptional corrosion resistance.

Keywords

Alkaline hydrogen evolution / Intermetallic / NiMo / Dealloying / Multiscale porous structure

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