Plasma‐Driven Synthesis of Self‐Supported Nickel‐Iron Nanostructures for Water Electrolysis

Abstract

Nickel‐based electrocatalysts are deemed as promising low‐cost, earth‐abundant materials in the development of the next‐generation alkaline and anion exchange membrane water electrolyzers. Herein, a plasma‐processing technique is presented for fabricating self‐supported nanostructures from planar NiFe substrates and its performance for water splitting reactions. Irradiating the samples with helium plasma results in the formation of nano‐tendrils, which are affixed to the metallic substrate. This unique design not only enhances charge and mass transport, but also increases the electrochemical surface area by 3 to4 times, as compared to the unmodified/planar surfaces. For the benchmark 10 mAcm−2geo current density, the nanostructured electrodes demonstrate overpotentials of 330 and 354 mV for oxygen evolution reaction and hydrogen evolution reaction respectively in 1 M‐ KOH. Moving forward, application of this technique can be extended for fabricating self‐supported 3D substrates (e.g., foams, felts, perforated sheets), all of which find practical applications in energy conversion and storage devices.

Boosting the Electrolysis of Monosaccharide-Based Streams in an Anion-Exchange Membrane Cell

“…However, due to the low resistance of Pt to the poisoning effect of intermediate reaction species, the addition of transition metals (such as Ni or Co) in bimetallic electrocatalysts may improve both the electrochemical activity and durability, as well as reduce the amount of Pt used . Additionally, Ni-based electrocatalysts are widely studied in alkaline media, especially in water electrolysis . However, few publications can be found concerning alkaline glucose electro-oxidation with PtNi or PtCo electrocatalysts.…”

“… 15 Additionally, Ni-based electrocatalysts are widely studied in alkaline media, especially in water electrolysis. 16 However, few publications can be found concerning alkaline glucose electro-oxidation with PtNi or PtCo electrocatalysts. Additionally, the electro-oxidation of xylose and fructose has not yet been sufficiently explored in the literature, especially using these bimetallic electrocatalysts.…”