Bubble-template assisted fast electrochemical deposition of 3-D ternary Ni-Cu-Co alloy as promising catalyst for electrochemical overall water splitting

Abstract

Today, the synthesis of electrocatalysts with excellent and unique activity for hydrogen production is one of the most critical challenges. In this study, binder-free and active Ni-Cu-Co electrode was created by electrochemical preparation manner. Its electrocatalytic behavior was investigated for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), and oxygen evolution reaction (OER). The electrocatalytic activity was investigated by linear sweep voltammetry (LSV), cyclic voltammetry (CV), Tafel and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) tests. The results of the electrocatalytic behavior showed that the Ni-Cu-Co 3-D electrode fabricated at 3 A·cm−2 inspired by high active surface area, having superhydrophilic nature and synergistic effect between elements, has the best hydrogen production performance. The needed overpotential for 10 mA.cm−2 was only 68 mV and 245 mV in HER and OER, respectively. In addition, in the overall water splitting cell using this electrode as a cathode and anode, the 10 mA.cm−2 current density will attain in 1.55 V with outstanding stability. This study, introduces the new fast electrochemical method for synthesizing an active and stable bi-functional electrocatalyst.