Investigation of improved Bifunctional electrocatalytic HER and OER performances of Lanthanum Molybdate supported Graphene oxide composite in Acidic and Alkaline media

Abstract

Developing low-cost and high-performance emergent bifunctional electrocatalysts (ECs) is crucial to catalyze the overall electrocatalytic water-splitting. In this work, Lanthanum Molybdate (LaM) in the graphene oxide (GO) surface to develop its electrocatalytic applications in various environments is designed and presented. LaM/GO ECs could enhance the HER catalytic efficiency with a less overpotential of −0.21 V and less Tafel slope value of 81 mV dec−1 at an optimum current density of 10 mA cm−2 on typical acid media. Also, the less Tafel slope of 186 mV dec−1 and less overpotential (0.56 V) for catalyzing OER in alkaline media signifies its bifunctional electrocatalytic HER and OER activity. Moreover, it could exhibit admirable durability after 5000 cycles in both alkaline and acidic media. The outstanding bifunctional electrochemical activity of LaM/GO might be accredited to the novel construction method and benefits of LaM not only facilitates electron transfer but also interacts with the GO layer surface to make a synergic catalytic effect and might offer a large electrochemical surface area. Hence, this present work could be prolonged to propose and fabricate these sequence composites with the advantage of bifunctional catalysts for practical water-splitting applications.