Preparation of Ti@NiB electrode via electroless plating toward high-efficient alkaline simulated seawater splitting

Abstract

To achieve efficient and stable hydrogen production by water splitting is of great challenges. Herein, a 2D self-supporting catalytic electrode with stability is designed to obtain hydrogen on a large scale from alkaline simulated seawater (1.0 M KOH + 0.5 M NaCl, pH = 14). Specifically, the amorphous NiB active materials are modified on the surface of Ti plate by electroless plating with different time without adding binders and other additives, and [email protected] bifunctional catalytic electrode is simply prepared at room temperature. The overpotential of hydrogen evolution reaction at 10 mA·cm−2 is 149 mV in alkaline simulated seawater while that of oxygen evolution reaction is 397 mV at 50 mA·cm−2. The [email protected] electrode showing good stability during overall water splitting electrolyzes for over 40 h at 20 mA·cm−2, partly due to the corrosion resistance of Ti plate, the increased specific surface area with the modification of amorphous NiB, and the inseparable attachment between NiB active materials and the robust substrate. This work provides a strategy for preparing electrodes with high activity, low cost and long-term stability application.