Green electroless plating of cuprous oxide nanoparticles onto carbon nanotubes as efficient electrocatalysts for hydrogen evolution reaction

Abstract

Cuprous oxide (Cu2O) nanoparticles supported on pristine carbon nanotubes (Cu2O/CNTs) were synthesized by a facile and green electroless plating method, in which glucose replaced formaldehyde as the reducing agent. The as-prepared Cu2O/CNTs nanocomposite materials as electrocatalysts exhibited remarkable electrocatalytic activity towards hydrogen evolution reaction in alkaline solution, with an overpotential of 101 mV at −10 mA cm−2 and a Tafel slope of 88 mV dec−1. In addition, Cu2O/CNTs electrocatalysts maintained high electrocatalytic activity after the accelerated durability tests in 0.1 M KOH. All these results indicated Cu2O/CNTs can be utilized as efficient HER electrocatalysts for water splitting.