Enabling high loading of well-dispersed Ni2CoP2 catalysts on a 3D-printed electrode for efficient electrocatalysis

Abstract

The loadings of well-dispersed non-noble catalysts on traditional electrocatalytic electrodes are far below the commercial loading requirement of more than 10 mg cm⁻², resulting in poor electrocatalytic performance. Herein, 20.3 mg cm⁻² of well-dispersed Ni₂CoP₂ catalysts were successfully loaded on a 3D-printed graphene/carbon nanotube (3DP GC)-thick electrode, which demonstrates a large linear improvement in urea oxidation reaction (UOR) performances compared to the low loadings of Ni₂CoP₂ catalysts on 3DP GC thin electrodes. As a result, the 18-layer 3DP GC/Ni₂CoP₂ electrode demonstrates the low potential of 1.31 V to reach a current density of 10 mA cm⁻² for the alkaline UOR, which is much better than those demonstrated by traditional electrodes, such as carbon paper, carbon cloth, and nickel foam with the same Ni₂CoP₂ loading. This work paves the way for realizing the high loading of various well-dispersed catalysts on electrodes for high-performance electrocatalysis at low potentials.