Towards a new avenue for rapid synthesis of electrocatalytic electrodes via laser-induced hydrothermal reaction for water splitting

Electrochemical production of hydrogen from water requires the development ofelectrocatalysts that are active,stable,and low-cost for water splitting.To address these challenges,researchers are increasingly exploring binder-free electrocatalytic integratedelectrodes (IEs) as an alternative to conventional powder-based electrode preparation methods,for the former is highly desirable to improve the catalytic activity and long-term stability for large-scale applications of electrocatalysts.Herein,we demonstrate a laser-inducedhydrothermal reaction (LIHR) technique to grow NiMoO4nanosheets on nickel foam,which is then calcined under H2/Ar mixed gases to prepare the IE IE-NiMo-LR.This electrode exhibits superior hydrogen evolution reaction performance,requiring overpotentials of 59,116 and143 mV to achieve current densities of 100,500 and 1000 mA·cm-2.During the 350 h chronopotentiometry test at current densities of 100 and 500 m A·cm-2,the overpotentialremains essentially unchanged.In addition,NiFe-layered double hydroxide grown on Ni foam is also fabricated with the same LIHR method and coupled with IE-NiMo-IR to achieve water splitting.This combination exhibits excellent durability under industrial current density.The energy consumption and production efficiency of the LIHR method are systematicallycompared with the conventional hydrothermal method.The LIHR method significantly improves the production rate by over 19 times,while consuming only 27.78%of the total energy required by conventional hydrothermal methods to achieve the same production.

Electrocatalytic Activity of Ni/C Electrodes Prepared by Metal Vapor Synthesis For Hydrogen Evolution in Alkaline Solution

The metal vapor synthesis (MVS) methed was used to prepare activatedcarbon supported nickel electrode. The electrocatalytic activity of the electrode forhydrogen evolution reaction(HGR) in alkaline solution was studied. Cathodicpolarization curves showed the electrocatalytic activity of Ni/C electrode prepared byMVS method was higher than that of the one prepared by conventional method.

Plastic supported platinum modified nickel electrode and its high electrocatalytic activity for sodium borohydride electrooxidation

A novel plastic/multi-walled carbon nanotube（MWNTs）-nickel（Ni）-platinum（Pt） electrode（PMNP） is prepared by chemical-reducing Pt onto the surface of Ni film covered plastic/MWNTs（PM） substrate. The MWNTs are adhered by a piece of commercial double faced adhesive tape on the surface of plastic paper and the Ni film is prepared by a simple electrodeposition method. The morphology and phase structure of the PMNP electrode are characterized by scanning electron microscopy,transmission electron microscope and X-ray diffractometer. The catalytic activity of the PMNP electrode for Na BH4 electrooxidation is investigated by means of cyclic voltammetry and chronoamperometry. The catalyst combines tightly with the plastic paper and exhibits a good stability. MWNTs serve as both conductive material and hydrogen storage material and the Ni film and Pt are employed as electrochemical catalysts. The PMNP electrode exhibits a high electrocatalytic performance and the oxidation current density reaches to 10.76 A/（mg·cm） in 0.1 mol/dm3 Na BH4at0 V,which is much higher than those in the previous reports. The using of waste plastic reduces the discarding of white pollution and consumption of metal resources.

Bifunctional Mn-doped CoSe_(2) nanonetworks electrode for hybrid alkali/acid electrolytic H_(2) generation and glycerol upgrading

Electrolytic water splitting,as a promising route to hydrogen(H_(2))production,is still confronted with the sluggish anodic oxygen evolution reaction(OER)and its less value-added O2 production.Herein,we report a bifunctional electrode fabricated by in situ growth of Mn-doped CoSe_(2)nanonetworks on carbon fiber cloth(Mn-CoSe_(2)/CFC),which shows attractive electrocatalytic properties toward glycerol oxidation reaction(GOR)in alkali and hydrogen evolution reaction(HER)in acid.A flow alkali/acid hybrid electrolytic cell(fA/A-hEC)was then developed by coupling anodic GOR with cathodic HER with the Mn-CoSe_(2)/CFC bifunctional electrode.Such fA/A-hEC enables a rather low voltage of 0.54 V to achieve 10 mA cm^(-2),and maintain long-term electrolysis stability over 300-h operation at 100 mA cm^(-2)with Faraday efficiencies of over 99%for H_(2)and 90%for formate production.The designed bifunctional electrode in such innovative fA/A-hEC device provides insightful guidance for coupling energy-efficient hydrogen production with biomass upgradation.

Synthesis of α-Mo_2C by Carburization of α-MoO_3 Nanowires and Its Electrocatalytic Activity towards Tri-iodide Reduction for Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

Nanowire-shaped α-Mo O3 was synthesized on a large scale by hydrothermal route.Nanocrystalline α-Mo2 C phase was obtained by the carburization of α-Mo O3 nanowires with urea as a carbon source precursor.The phase purity and crystalline size of the synthesized materials were ascertained by using powder X-ray diffraction.The shape and morphology of synthesized materials were characterized by field-emission scanning electron microscopy（FE-SEM） and high resolution transmission electron microscopy（HR-TEM）.The electrocatalytic activity of α-Mo2 C for I-/I3^-redox couple was investigated by the cyclic voltammetry.The synthesized α-Mo2 C was subsequently applied as counter electrode in dye-sensitized solar cells to replace the expensive platinum.