Effect of copper on improving the electrochemical storage of hydrogen in CeO2 nanostructure fabricated by a simple and surfactant-free sonochemical pathway

Abstract

Introducing high-performance compounds for hydrogen sorption is of interest because of their advantages for substantial applications such as energy storage. Here, the role of copper addition on hydrogen storage capability and Coulombic efficiency of CeO2 nanostructure (fabricated by an easy and surfactant-free sonochemical pathway) was examined, for the first time. Nanostructured oxides were fabricated with loading various percentages of copper (4 wt% and 40 wt%) inside CeO2. Nanostructured copper-ceria binary oxides were checked by diverse analyses. The hydrogen storage performance as well as Coulombic efficiency of the nanostructured copper-ceria binary oxides and the net CeO2 were checked through chronopotentiometry charge−discharge pathway in the alkaline medium. The outcomes exhibited that the hydrogen storage capacity of CeO2 nanostructure could be enhanced with adding the proper dosage of copper as a beneficial low-cost solution. Self-assembled copper-doped CeO2 hierarchical nanostructures could display the most appropriate performance than the net CeO2 and nanostructured Cu2O–CeO2. The discharge capacity for the self-assembled copper-doped CeO2 hierarchical nanostructures (fabricated by adding 4 wt% copper) could rise to 5070 mAh/g at 22nd cycle. Appropriate porosity, special architecture and unique morphology as well as convenient surface area of the self-assembled copper-doped CeO2 hierarchical nanostructures render they can be very beneficial compounds in the energy storage.