Evaluation of different Ni-semiconductor composites as electrodes for enhanced hydrogen evolution reaction

GÓMEZ, MELISA J.; BENAVENTE LLORENTE, VICTORIA; HAINER, ANDREW; LACCONI, GABRIELA I.; SCAIANO, JUAN C.; FRANCESCHINI, ESTEBAN A.; LANTERNA, ANABEL E.

Sustainable Energy & Fuels

Royal society of chemistry

Año: 2020

he use of earth-abundant materials for designing efficient and stable electrocatalysts is of paramount importance to facilitate large-scale production of hydrogen. In this work we developed a new series of electrodes based on Ni-semiconductor composites (Ni|SC) that are easy to synthesize (binder-free, economic and readily scalable method of synthesis), highly stable and active towards electrochemical hydrogen production under alkaline conditions. We showed the direct electrodeposition of composites (Ni|SC) from nickel-Watts plating baths modified by the addition of Nb2O5, Nb3(PO4)5, Bi2O3 and WO3 semiconductor particles. The electrodes were characterized by different techniques (electron and confocal microscopy, X-ray spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, among others) before and after their electrochemical evaluation as catalysts for hydrogen evolution from water. In order to gain insights into their structure-activity relationship, the materials were also characteriz