Hierarchical three-dimensional Fe-Ni hydroxide nanosheet arrays on carbon fiber electrodes for oxygen evolution reaction

• Main Author: O'Donovan-Zavada, Robert Anthony
• Format: Others
• Language: en
• Published: 2014
• Subjects: Fe; Ni; Iron; Nickel; Oxygen evolution reaction; Carbon; Hydroxide; Nano; Catalyst; Li; Air; Electrolysis
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2152/26199

As demands for alternative sources of energy increase over the coming decades, water electrolysis will play a larger role in meeting our needs. The oxygen evolution reaction (OER) component of water electrolysis suffers from slow kinetics. An efficient, inexpensive, alternative electrocatalyst is needed. We present here high-activity, low onset potential, stable catalyst materials for OER based on a hierarchical network architecture consisting of Fe and Ni coated on carbon fiber paper (CFP). Several compositions of Fe-Ni electrodes were grown on CFP using a hydrothermal method, which produced an interconnected nanosheet network morphology. The materials were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). Electrochemical performance of the catalyst was examined by cyclic voltammetry (CV) and linear sweep voltammetry (LSV). The best electrodes showed favorable activity (23 mA/cm², 60 mA/mg), onset potential (1.42 V vs. RHE), and cyclability. === text