One-step fabrication of a laser-induced forward transfer graphene/CuxO nanocomposite-based electrocatalyst to promote hydrogen evolution reaction

Abstract

Electrochemical water splitting is an attractive strategy to realize hydrogen harvesting. Exploring highly efficient electrocatalysts based on non-precious materials is of great significance to break the dilemma of using noble metal-based materials for large-scale commercial hydrogen production. Currently, studies on nano-structured non-precious electrocatalysts mainly focus on improving the catalytic efficiency and durability. However, conventional methods to synthesize these materials are generally time-consuming and complex, which badly hinder the progress for large-scale applications. Herein, in this study, an ultrasmall-sized Cu_xO nanoparticle immobilized on porous laser-induced forward transfer (LIFT) graphene dispersed on Ni foam was successfully fabricated via a fast one-step laser deposition method. This fabricated composite exhibited an impressive performance towards the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) in 1 M KOH solution. A low overpotential of 149.6 mV was achieved to reach an area current density of 10 mA cm⁻², and a Tafel slope of 157 mV dec⁻¹ was obtained. A 10 h chronoamperometry test of the as-prepared electrode under a fixed potential showed an ignorable degradation of the HER activity. This study shows the great potential of a facile preparation method of a highly efficient and inexpensive electrocatalyst for scalable hydrogen production.