Electro-Sorption of Hydrogen by Platinum, Palladium and Bimetallic Pt-Pd Nanoelectrode Arrays Synthesized by Pulsed Laser Ablation

Abstract

Sustainable and renewable production of hydrogen by water electrolysers is expected to be one of the most promising methods to satisfy the ever-growing demand for renewable energy production and storage. Hydrogen evolution reaction in alkaline electrolyte is still challenging due to its slow kinetic properties. This study proposes new nanoelectrode arrays for high Faradaic efficiency of the electro-sorption reaction of hydrogen in an alkaline electrolyte. A comparative study of the nanoelectrode arrays, consisting of platinum or palladium or bimetallic nanoparticles (NPs) Pt80Pd20 (wt.%), obtained by nanosecond pulsed laser ablation in aqueous environment, casted onto graphene paper, is proposed. The effects of thin films of perfluoro-sulfonic ionomer on the material morphology, nanoparticles dispersion, and electrochemical performance have been investigated. The NPs-GP systems have been characterized by field emission scanning electron microscopy, Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, cyclic voltammetry, and galvanostatic charge-discharge cycles. Faradaic efficiency up to 86.6% and hydrogen storage capacity up to 6 wt.% have been obtained by the Pt-ionomer and Pd/Pt80Pd20 systems, respectively.

Alkaline Electro-Sorption of Hydrogen Onto Nanoparticles of Pt, Pd, Pt80Pd20 and Cu(OH)2 Obtained by Pulsed Laser Ablation

“…The noble-metal NPs have an almost spherical shape. The structures of these NPs were studied by XRD which revealed their crystalline nature [ 20 , 32 ]. The NPs have an average size of 8 to 16 nm [ 20 , 32 ]; however, some larger NPs may be observed in the FE–SEM pictures of Figure 1 a–c, which are attributed to the tail of the size distribution of the NPs obtained by PLAL.…”

“…The structures of these NPs were studied by XRD which revealed their crystalline nature [ 20 , 32 ]. The NPs have an average size of 8 to 16 nm [ 20 , 32 ]; however, some larger NPs may be observed in the FE–SEM pictures of Figure 1 a–c, which are attributed to the tail of the size distribution of the NPs obtained by PLAL. According to our previous studies, the structure of Pt 80 Pd 20 NPs is not of a core-shell type [ 20 , 32 ].…”

“…The duration of ablation was 8 min. More details of the experimental setup and the parameters used in the NPs preparation were reported in previous works [ 20 , 30 ]. Electrodes were fabricated using pieces of GP of 1 cm × 3 cm.…”

“…Faradaic efficiency was calculated by the discharge-to-charge capacity percentage ratio. More details on the experimental procedures are reported in the Reference [ 20 ].…”

“…Recently, we reported a study on the electro-sorption of hydrogen in alkaline solutions by Pt, Pd, and bimetallic Pt 80 Pd 20 nanoparticles synthesized by Pulsed Laser Ablation in Liquid (PLAL), using pure water as a medium [ 20 ]. We found that these materials are still competitive in alkaline solution toward in relation to the HER, compared with other nanomaterials synthesized by conventional wet methods based on the chemical reduction of the precursors.…”