Issue 8, 2019

Ni-foam supported Co(OH)F and Co–P nanoarrays for energy-efficient hydrogen production via urea electrolysis

Abstract

It is an urgent requirement to develop non-precious metal-based catalysts with excellent electrocatalytic activity and stability to accelerate the development of hydrogen generation via energy-efficient routes. Herein, a facile and scalable strategy was developed to synthesize both rod-like Co(OH)F and Co–P nanoarrays supported on Ni-foam, denoted as Co(OH)F/NF and Co–P/NF, respectively. Electrochemical measurements demonstrate that Co–P/NF exhibits excellent electrocatalytic performance for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), delivering a low overpotential of 70 mV and 43 mV at 10 mA cm−2 in alkaline and acid media, respectively. Furthermore, the as-prepared Co(OH)F/NF contributes to an outstanding oxygen evolution reaction (OER) performance with a low oxidation potential of about 1.5 V at 10 mA cm−2. In addition, the Co(OH)F/NF also can enable highly efficient urea oxidation reaction (UOR) electrocatalysis, which can be utilized to substitute OER to lower the overpotential and thus reduce electrical energy consumption during H2-production. As a proof of concept, full water-splitting measurements were performed with Co–P/NF and Co(OH)F/NF as cathode and anode, respectively, in 1 M KOH with 0.7 M urea. The Co–P/NF‖Co(OH)F/NF electrode is capable of producing a current density of 20 mA cm−2 at a cell potential of only 1.42 V, which is 230 mV less than that for the urea-free counterpart, demonstrating its potential feasibility in practical applications of energy-efficient hydrogen production.

Graphical abstract: Ni-foam supported Co(OH)F and Co–P nanoarrays for energy-efficient hydrogen production via urea electrolysis

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
15 Nov 2018
Accepted
18 Jan 2019
First published
18 Jan 2019

J. Mater. Chem. A, 2019,7, 3697-3703

Ni-foam supported Co(OH)F and Co–P nanoarrays for energy-efficient hydrogen production via urea electrolysis

M. Song, Z. Zhang, Q. Li, W. Jin, Z. Wu, G. Fu and X. Liu, J. Mater. Chem. A, 2019, 7, 3697 DOI: 10.1039/C8TA10985K

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