Sputtering nickel-molybdenum nanorods as an excellent hydrogen evolution reaction catalyst

Abstract

We report a novel fabrication of nickel-molybdenum alloy nanorods catalyst for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), which is prepared by co-deposition of pure nickel and molybdenum in a multisource sputtering system on the surface of Ni foam substrate. The Ni–Mo alloy film exhibits favorable vertical nanorods structure and presents the most efficient activity for HER compared to the film only including one metal element. The remarkably enhanced catalytic activity is attributed to its ordered array geometry as well as the synergistic interaction between Ni and Mo. Meanwhile, the open space within nanorod arrays facilitates the electrolyte penetration and diffusion of ionic species, allowing high utilization efficiency of active species as well as rapidly release of evolved hydrogen gas from the electrode surface.