Ultrathin and porous Mo-doped Ni nanosheet arrays as high-efficient electrocatalysts for hydrogen evolution reaction

Abstract

High-active and low-cost electrocatalysts is crucial in obtaining clean hydrogen energy via water splitting. Nickel (Ni) is an attractive alternative to the noble metal electrocatalysts for alkaline HER. However, in high concentration alkaline media, it suffers from severe corrosion and deactivation. To solve this problem an ultrathin and porous Ni nanosheet were fabricated with Molybdenum (Mo) doping by hydrogen reduction of NiMoO4-Ni(OH)2 nanosheets to fine-tune the morphology and HER activity. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) demonstrate that the introduced Mo does not only help to control the morphology but also greatly boosts the HER activity of Ni due to the strong interaction between Mo and Ni. The enhanced HER performance is attested by the overpotential of 91 mV at 10 mA cm−2, low Tafel slope of 62 mV dec−1 and good stability, which is much superior to that of recently reported non-noble metal-based HER electrocatalysts. This study present Ni catalyst as a promising catalyst for the industrial production of H2.