Abstract
Developing non-noble metal-based electrocatalyst with high catalytic activity is essential for advancing hydrogen energy technologies. This study introduces a hydrothermal method for synthesizing order Ni(OH)2 nanosheets, with H3O40PW12 (denoted as PW12) loaded onto reduced graphene oxide (rGO) coated on nickel foam (referred to as PW12-Ni(OH)2/rGO). This method contrasts with the electrodeposition of Ni(OH)2, where PW12 is added to the synthetic system to direct the assembly and morphology of the Ni(OH)2 through a hydrothermal reaction. In this work, the nickel foam acts dual roles as both the substrate and the source of nickel for the formation of Ni(OH)2. The PW12-Ni(OH)2/rGO nanosheets, when successfully prepared and loaded onto the nickel foam (NF), exhibited superior electrocatalytic activity for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) in an alkaline electrolyte, achieving a current density of 10 mA·cm−2 at an overpotential of 69 mV. Furthermore, we endeavored to expand the application of this material towards the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) by preparing PW12-(Fe/Co)Ni(OH)2/rGO through the addition of metal cations. This nanocomposite displayed outstanding electrocatalytic activity in alkaline electrolytes, with a current density of 10 mA·cm−2 at an overpotential of 211 mV, and demonstrated excellent stability over a 50 h period in a 1 M KOH solution. The results presented in this paper offer an effective strategy for the preparation of polyoxometalate-based inorganic materials with diverse functionalities, applicable to both HER and OER.
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Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 21831001, 21801014, 22171024, and 22202037) and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (No. 2412023QD019). Tests were supported by the Analysis & Testing Center of Beijing Institute of Technology.
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He, D., Li, T., Jiang, L. et al. Polyoxometalate as the assembly material to self-assembled Ni(OH)2 nanosheets with electrocatalytic performance. Nano Res. 17, 7061–7067 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-024-6772-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-024-6772-5