Effect of Graphene Oxide on the Electrocatalytic Activity of Ni-W Alloy Coating

Liju Elias,Ampar Chitharanjan Hegde

doi:10.21767/2470-9867.10002

Abstract

Nickel-Tungsten-reduced Graphene Oxide (Ni-W-rGO) composite coating was developed through composite electrodeposition method, and its electrocatalytic activity for alkaline hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) was studied. The development of composite coating with a homogeneous dispersion of rGO nanosheets was achieved from an optimal Ni-W plating bath loaded with nanosheets was achieved from an optimal Ni-W plating bath loaded with graphene oxide (GO), synthesized through the chemical oxidation of graphite. The electrocatalytic efficacy of the composite coating for HER was tested using cyclic voltammetry (CV) and chronopotentiometry (CP) techniques in 1.0 M KOH medium. A remarkable increase in the HER activity was observed for the Ni-WrGO composite coating compared with the Ni-W alloy coating. The variation in composition, surface morphology and crystal structure of the composite coating effected by the incorporation of rGO into the alloy matrix favor the enhanced HER activity, as evidenced by energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD).

Highlights

Hydrogen is widely accepted as the green alternative to the fossil fuel [1,2,3]
The formation of graphene oxide (GO) is confirmed by the XRD analysis
All these characterizations confirm the formation of GO after the chemical treatment of graphite, and it was used for the preparation of Ni-W-reduced graphene oxide (rGO) nanocomposite coating

Summary

Introduction

Hydrogen is widely accepted as the green alternative to the fossil fuel [1,2,3]. the major portion of worldwide hydrogen production is still dependent on the hydrocarbon sources leading to the emission of huge amount of greenhouse gases [2,3]. We are developing Nickel-Tungstenreduced Graphene Oxide (Ni-W-rGO) composite coating as an efficient electrocatalytic material for alkaline HER through the codeposition of homogeneously dispersed GO.

Results

Conclusion