Issue 24, 2017

Cobalt nickel boride as an active electrocatalyst for water splitting

Abstract

Electrochemically splitting water to produce clean hydrogen fuel requires high-performance electrocatalysts. Here, we report that ternary transition metal boride Co–Ni–B is an active candidate catalyst for water splitting. The Co–Ni–B nanoparticles were deposited on Ni foam (NF) by a facile electroless plating method. After being properly calcined under an Ar atmosphere, the Co–Ni–B@NF catalyst exhibits a low overpotential along with high stability in alkaline solutions for the oxygen evolution reaction, which is among the best reported levels for non-precious metal catalysts. Furthermore, the properly annealed Co–Ni–B@NF catalyst also shows good activity towards the hydrogen evolution reaction. The potential of Co–Ni–B@NF as a bifunctional catalyst for the overall water splitting was demonstrated, with 10 mA cm−2 achieved at 1.72 V. The favorable combination of high catalytic activity, facile preparation and low cost makes Co–Ni–B@NF a very promising bifunctional catalyst for electrochemical water splitting.

Graphical abstract: Cobalt nickel boride as an active electrocatalyst for water splitting

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
26 Mar 2017
Accepted
11 May 2017
First published
11 May 2017

J. Mater. Chem. A, 2017,5, 12379-12384

Cobalt nickel boride as an active electrocatalyst for water splitting

N. Xu, G. Cao, Z. Chen, Q. Kang, H. Dai and P. Wang, J. Mater. Chem. A, 2017, 5, 12379 DOI: 10.1039/C7TA02644G

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