Catalytic activity of Ni–Cr–Fe–Mo porous materials for hydrogen evolution reaction in alkaline media

Abstract

The hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) based on water electrolysis represents an ideal approach for hydrogen production. The advancement of highly active non-precious metal catalysts holds paramount importance. This research employed powder metallurgy sintering to prepare Ni–Cr–Fe and Ni–Cr–Fe–Mo porous materials. It investigated the impact of Mo doping and sintering temperature on the catalytic activity and microstructural influence of hydrogen evolution materials. Furthermore, the materials' electrochemical performance and long-term stability in 6 mol/L KOH were examined. In complicated systems, the current work provides a feasible method for producing hydrogen from Ni–Cr–Fe–Mo porous materials in a strong alkali environment. The results exhibited that when Mo content is 5% and the sintering temperature is 800 °C, the porosity of Ni–Cr–Fe–Mo porous materials is up to 39.9% and the catalytic activity is up to 97%. At the same time, the current density decays to 7.1% after 1000 cycles of electrolysis and shows good HER stability after 48 h. The enhanced catalytic activity for hydrogen evolution emanated from the positive synergy among the transition metal elements.