Preparation and hydrogen evolution performance of porous Ni-Cu-Ti/CNTs-Ni electrode

Abstract

Electrolytic water is becoming more popular as a potential technique for creating high-purity hydrogen. Low-cost, high-performance hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) catalyst design and production continue to be difficult. In this study, porous Ni-Cu-Ti/CNTs-Ni composites were created via powder metallurgy. For the HER process, its electrocatalytic activity and stability were investigated. According to the results of the experiments, nickel plating helps increase the dispersion of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) in the material. The addition of CNTs-Ni also increases the specific surface area of the composite material, provides more active sites for the catalytic reaction, improves the material's conductivity, and boosts the hydrogen production efficiency of the catalytic reaction. When the mass ratio of CNTs-Ni is 0.5%, the composite operates at its best. In a solution of 6 mol/L KOH with a current density of 100 mA cm−2, the overpotential is 140 mV, and the Tafel slope is 93.8 mV·dec−1.