Premium
Hierarchically Organized NiCo 2 O 4 Microflowers Anchored on Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes: Efficient Bifunctional Electrocatalysts for Oxygen and Hydrogen Evolution Reactions
Author(s) -
Umeshbabu Ediga,
Hari Krishna Charan P.,
Justin Ponniah,
Ranga Rao G.
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
chempluschem
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.801
H-Index - 61
ISSN - 2192-6506
DOI - 10.1002/cplu.201900603
Subject(s) - bifunctional , tafel equation , catalysis , oxygen evolution , materials science , chemical engineering , carbon nanotube , nanotechnology , nanowire , chemistry , electrode , electrochemistry , organic chemistry , engineering
Hierarchical flower‐like NiCo 2 O 4 anchored on multiwalled carbon nanotubes (NiCo 2 O 4 ‐MCNTs) act as robust bifunctional electrocatalysts towards O 2 (OER) and H 2 (HER) evolution reactions. The NiCo 2 O 4 ‐MCNTs hybrid is synthesized in a facile surfactant‐free hydrothermal process, and its flower‐like morphology was shown to consist of 1D nanowires. The MCNT support is beneficial for enhanced reactive sites, efficient charge transfer, and durability of the composite. The material shows low overpotentials of 350 mV and 209 mV for OER and HER, respectively at 10 mA cm −2 . Such values are comparable to contemporary noble‐metal catalysts and even lower than reported non‐precious catalysts. Moreover, this hybrid shows high current density, lower Tafel slope, and excellent stability. The synergistic coupling effects between the MCNTs and NiCo 2 O 4 are key factors for the superior catalytic activity of these hybrid materials.