Fabrication and design of four-component Bi2S3/CuFe2O4/CuO/Cu2O nanocomposite as new active materials for high performance electrochemical hydrogen storage application

Abstract

Considering the growth of the population and the demand for clean and renewable energy systems such as hydrogen, the development and optimization of the active materials for advanced electrochemical hydrogen storage require considerable effort. The goal of this research was to synthesize a four-component Bi2S3/CuFe2O4/CuO/Cu2O nanocomposite through a series of multiple steps. In order to examine the physicochemical characteristics of the sample, a variety of techniques were employed, including field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM), X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), Brunauer- Emmett–Teller (BET), Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). Among these features are the morphological characteristics, structure properties, porosity, and the magnetic properties of the Bi2S3/CuFe2O4/CuO/Cu2O nanocomposite. In addition, as-synthesized materials were investigated for electrochemical performance as potential electrochemical hydrogen storage materials. A chronopotentiometer (ChP), cyclic voltammetry (CV), electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and linear polarization method were used to study the hydrogen storage efficiency of as-schemed materials. A hydrogen storage capacity of approximately 225 mAhg−1 was determined for the Bi2S3/CuFe2O4/CuO/Cu2O nanocomposite after one cycle at a constant current of 1 mA, while this value was calculated for the Bi2S3, CuFe2O4 and Bi2S3/CuFe2O4 samples at 292 mAhg−1, 433 mAhg−1, and 276 mAhg−1, respectively. A quadruple Bi2S3/CuFe2O4/CuO/Cu2O nanocomposite showed excellent discharge capacity after 15 cycles in comparison with other samples. According to our calculations, this value is 1200 mAhg−1, while Bi2S3, CuFe2O4 and Bi2S3/CuFe2O4 nanostructures have capacities of 750 mAhg−1, 800 mAhg-1 and 1000 mAhg-1, respectively. In view of the demonstrated superior electrochemical properties of the Bi2S3/CuFe2O4/CuO/Cu2O nanocomposite, it has a very promising future for electrochemical hydrogen storage.