Efficient energy-saving hydrogen production on binder-free electrodeposited hierarchical Ni–Mn–P@Ni–Co nanostructure

Abstract

Synthesis of optimized active and stable electrocatalyst represents a significant and crucial obstacle in producing green hydrogen. Additionally, the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) poses a significant challenge in the sustainable production of hydrogen, mainly because of its sluggish nature. In this research, the electrodeposition technique was used for synthesizing the hierarchical Ni–Mn–P@Ni–Co nanostructure and its electrocatalytic behavior was explored for hydrogen evolution and urea electro-oxidation reactions (HER and UOR). Electrochemical analysis revealed that by utilizing a high surface area and favorable intrinsic activity, electrodes that demonstrated remarkable electrocatalytic activity and performance were created through the fabrication process. For delivering the 10 mA cm−2 current density, the Ni–Mn–P@Ni–Co electrode needed only 70 mV overpotential in HER and 1.309 V vs RHE in UOR. Furthermore, substituting the UOR with OER also resulted in an enhancement of hydrogen production efficiency. During overall urea electrolysis, the cell voltage in 10 mA cm−2 was only 1.395 V which, is 200 mV lower than the HER-OER process.