Enhancing Hydrogen Evolution Reaction by Synergistically Coupling NiMo Alloy with Ni(OH)2 Nanosheet on Carbon Cloth

Abstract

AbstractSluggish water dissociation step severely constraints the efficiency of alkaline hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Inspired by the merits of the favorable water dissociation ability of Ni(OH)2 and moderate hydrogen bonding strength on NiMo alloy, in this paper, NiMo/Ni(OH)2 nanohybrid on carbon cloth (CC) was synthesized by hydrothermal method and subsequent electrodeposition technique. XRD, SEM and XPS confirmed NiMo alloy was electrodeposited on Ni(OH)2 nanosheet surface. Alkaline HER measurement unveiled that NiMo/Ni(OH)2/CC exhibited the highest alkaline HER performance with overpotential of 132 mV at 10 mA/cm2 among as‐prepared samples, Tafel slope and EIS spectra verified the HER kinetics and the water dissociation rate were enhanced after embedding NiMo alloy into Ni(OH)2 nanosheets. The outstanding alkaline HER performance can be assigned to the coupling effect between NiMo alloy and Ni(OH)2, and Ni alloying with Mo. The preeminent HER performance and facile preparation method of NiMo/Ni(OH)2/CC endow it with prospect application in alkaline water splitting.