One–step electrodeposition of Ni–Ce–Pr–Ho/NF as an efficient electrocatalyst for hydrogen evolution reaction in alkaline medium

Abstract

Finding non-precious metal hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) electrocatalysts with high efficiency and low cost is a great challenge. A novel HER electrocatalyst of amorphous Nickel–Cerium–Praseodymium–Holmium coating supported on nickel foam (Ni–Ce–Pr–Ho/NF) was successfully synthesized through one-step galvanostatic electrodeposition. The Ni–Ce–Pr–Ho catalyst exhibited excellent electrocatalytic activity toward HER with a low overpotential of 78 mV at 10 mA cm−2 in 1 M KOH. The Tafel slope of Ni–Ce–Pr–Ho electrocatalyst (121.6 mV·dec−1) indicated that the hydrogen reaction mechanism for Ni–Ce–Pr–Ho electrocatalysts followed a typical Volmer–Heyrovsky step. The remarkable HER performance was attributed to Pr and Ho doping, which resulted in the development of an amorphous structure, satisfactory intrinsic activity, and high conductivity.