CoO/NF nanowires promote hydrogen and oxygen production for overall water splitting in alkaline media

摘要

The exploration of catalysts with high activity and low cost for water splitting is still necessary. Herein, a nanowire-like morphology CoO/NF electrode is synthesized using facile hydrothermal reaction and calcination treatment. The urea can regulate its morphology during the synthetic process of CoO/NF. Electrochemical studies reveal that the as-obtained CoO/NF exhibits excellent electrocatalytic performance with overpotential of 307 mV at current density of 10 mA cm(-2) and Tafel slope of 72 mV dec(-1) for oxygen evolution reaction, and CoO/NF delivers current density of 10 mA cm(-2) at overpotential of 224 mV for hydrogen evolution reaction. The results of the oxygen evolution reaction stability show that the overpotential of CoO/NF electrode is only increased by 4 mV at current density of 10 mA cm(-2). The two-electrode water splitting with CoO/NF electrodes as both anode and cathode needs a cell potential of 1.76 V to reach 10 mA cm(-2). Therefore, this simple method to prepare CoO/NF electrode can enhance the properties of electrocatalysts, which makes CoO/NF a promising material to replace noble metal-based catalysts. (C) 2020 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.