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Article
Enhancing Electrocatalytic Activity of Bifunctional Ni₃Se₂ for Overall Water Splitting through Etching-induced Surface Nanostructuring
Journal of Materials Research
  • Abdurazag Taher Swesi
  • Jahangir Masud
  • Manashi Nath, Missouri University of Science and Technology
Abstract

Electrocatalysts for oxygen evolution reaction (OER) has been at the center of attention for water splitting reactions. In this article we have presented a methodology to significantly improve the OER catalytic efficiency of electrodeposited Ni3Se2 films. Specifically, the pristine Ni3Se2 on surface nanostructuring induced through electrochemical etching shows a remarkable decrease of overpotential (@10 mA cm-2) to 190 mV, making it as one of the best OER elecrocatalyst known till date. Through detailed structural and morphological characterization of the catalyst film, we have learnt that such enhancement is possibly caused by the increased surface roughness factor and electrochemically active surface area of the etched film. The morphology of the film also changed from smooth to rough on etching further supporting the enhanced catalytic activity. Detailed characterization also revealed that the composition of the film was unaltered on etching. Ni3Se2 film was also active for HER in alkaline medium making this a bifunctional catalyst capable of full water splitting in alkaline electrolyte with a cell voltage of 1.65 V.

Department(s)
Chemistry
Keywords and Phrases
  • Catalyst activity,
  • Catalysts,
  • Electrocatalysts,
  • Electrodeposition,
  • Electrodes,
  • Electrolytes,
  • Energy storage,
  • Nickel,
  • Surface roughness,
  • catalytic,
  • Electrocatalytic activity,
  • Electrochemically active surface areas,
  • Enhanced catalytic activity,
  • Morphological characterization,
  • Oxygen evolution reaction,
  • Surface roughness factors,
  • Water splitting reactions,
  • Electrochemical etching
Document Type
Article - Journal
Document Version
Citation
File Type
text
Language(s)
English
Rights
© 2016 Cambridge University Press, All rights reserved.
Publication Date
9-1-2016
Publication Date
01 Sep 2016
Disciplines
Citation Information
Abdurazag Taher Swesi, Jahangir Masud and Manashi Nath. "Enhancing Electrocatalytic Activity of Bifunctional Ni₃Se₂ for Overall Water Splitting through Etching-induced Surface Nanostructuring" Journal of Materials Research Vol. 31 Iss. 18 (2016) p. 2888 - 2896 ISSN: 0884-2914
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/manashi-nath/47/