Cyclic voltammetry electrodeposition of self-standing Ni–Fe–Sn ternary alloys for accelerating alkaline hydrogen evolution

Abstract

Designing cost-effective and high-efficiency non-noble electrocatalysts for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) remains a significant challenge for electrochemical water splitting to store clean and renewable energy. Herein, we have developed Ni–Fe–Sn electrocatalysts grown on Ni foam (Ni–Fe–Sn@NF) for the HER through a simple and facile synthetic route of cyclic voltammetry electrodeposition. The optimized Ni–Fe–Sn electrocatalysts possess excellent electrocatalysis toward hydrogen evolution with a low overpotential of 103 mV at a current density of 10 mA cm−2, together with a small Tafel slope value of 97.4 mV·dec−1 in 1 M KOH. The electrocatalyst also features excellent stability even after 2000 cycles and strong durability after 50 h under alkaline condition. The high HER performance can be attributed to the moderately optimized electronic structure of the Ni, Fe, and Sn center and bind-free nature of the electrode, which facilitates electron transfer and speeds up reaction kinetics. Moreover, the improved electrochemical surface area also enhances the performance on hydrogen production. This strategy presents a facile and simple tactic for the synthesis of noble-metal-free electrocatalysts with excellent HER performance.