Composite Nanoarchitectonics with iron nickel bimetallic nanoparticles and carbon composite for efficient electrocatalysis in hydrogen evolution reaction

Abstract

The poor efficiency and stability of cost-effective metal compounds are major hurdles to substitute expensive metal-based nanomaterials for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). As a result, new concepts and tactics for developing electrocatalysts based on earth-abundant elements must be developed. We present iron-nickel alloy nanoparticles that are supported with carbon (FeNi@C) to improve HER performance in alkaline conditions. FeNi particle was supported on Trimesic acid (TMA) based carbon. In particular, the high conductivity of the carbon and a large number of catalytically active sites in the FeNi demonstrated a synergistic effect, making the hybrid structure a good choice for HER catalyst. Moreover, the physicochemical interaction between the carbon and FeNi metal enhanced the electrocatalytic performance and resulted in achieving 10 mA/cm2 current density at 190 mV overpotential with 15 h chronopotential cycling, proving the possibility for replacing costly Pt-based catalysts.