Atomic layer deposition of Pd nanoparticles on self-supported carbon-Ni/NiO-Pd nanofiber electrodes for electrochemical hydrogen and oxygen evolution reactions

Ahmed Barhoum; Heba H El-Maghrabi; Igor Iatsunskyi; Emerson Coy; Aurélien Renard; Chrystelle Salameh; Matthieu Weber; Syreina Sayegh; Amr A Nada; Stéphanie Roualdes; Mikhael Bechelany

doi:10.1016/j.jcis.2020.02.063

Atomic layer deposition of Pd nanoparticles on self-supported carbon-Ni/NiO-Pd nanofiber electrodes for electrochemical hydrogen and oxygen evolution reactions

J Colloid Interface Sci. 2020 Jun 1:569:286-297. doi: 10.1016/j.jcis.2020.02.063. Epub 2020 Feb 17.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Chemistry Department, Faculty of Science, Helwan University, Ain Helwan, Cairo 11795, Egypt; Institut Européen des Membranes (IEM), UMR-5635, Univ Montpellier, ENSCM, CNRS, Place Eugène Bataillon, 34095 Montpellier, France. Electronic address: ahmed.barhoum@science.helwan.edu.eg.
² Institut Européen des Membranes (IEM), UMR-5635, Univ Montpellier, ENSCM, CNRS, Place Eugène Bataillon, 34095 Montpellier, France; Dept. of Refining, Egyptian Petroleum Research Institute, Cairo, Nasr City P.B. 11727, Egypt.
³ NanoBioMedical Centre, Adam Mickiewicz University, 3 Wszechnicy Piastowskiej str., 61-614 Poznan, Poland.
⁴ LCPME - UMR 7564 - CNRS - Université de Lorraine, 405, rue de Vandoeuvre, 54600 Villers-Les-Nancy, France.
⁵ Institut Européen des Membranes (IEM), UMR-5635, Univ Montpellier, ENSCM, CNRS, Place Eugène Bataillon, 34095 Montpellier, France.
⁶ Institut Européen des Membranes (IEM), UMR-5635, Univ Montpellier, ENSCM, CNRS, Place Eugène Bataillon, 34095 Montpellier, France; Dept. of Analysis and Evaluation, Egyptian Petroleum Research Institute, Cairo, Nasr City P.B. 11727, Egypt.
⁷ Institut Européen des Membranes (IEM), UMR-5635, Univ Montpellier, ENSCM, CNRS, Place Eugène Bataillon, 34095 Montpellier, France. Electronic address: mikhael.bechelany@umontpellier.fr.

PMID: 32114107
DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2020.02.063

Abstract

The most critical challenge in hydrogen fuel production is to develop efficient, eco-friendly, low-cost electrocatalysts for water splitting. In this study, self-supported carbon nanofiber (CNF) electrodes decorated with nickel/nickel oxide (Ni/NiO) and palladium (Pd) nanoparticles (NPs) were prepared by combining electrospinning, peroxidation, and thermal carbonation with atomic layer deposition (ALD), and then employed for hydrogen evolution and oxygen evolution reactions (HER/OER). The best CNF-Ni/NiO-Pd electrode displayed the lowest overpotential (63 mV and 1.6 V at j = 10 mA cm^-2), a remarkably small Tafel slope (72 and 272 mV dec^-1), and consequent exchange current density (1.15 and 22.4 mA cm^-2) during HER and OER, respectively. The high chemical stability and improved electrocatalytic performance of the prepared electrodes can be explained by CNF functionalization via Ni/NiO NP encapsulation, the formation of graphitic layers that cover and protect the Ni/NiO NPs from corrosion, and ALD of Pd NPs at the surface of the self-supported CNF-Ni/NiO electrodes.

Keywords: Atomic layer deposition; Carbon nanofiber; Electrospinning; Hydrogen and oxygen evolution reactions; Nickel-palladium catalysts; Self-supported electrodes.