Cobalt Ferrite Surface-Modified Carbon Nanotube Fibers as an Efficient and Flexible Electrode for Overall Electrochemical Water Splitting Reactions

Aneesa Fatima; Haia Aldosari; M S Al-Buriahi; Maryam Al Huwayz; Z A Alrowaili; Mohammed S Alqahtani; Muhammad Ajmal; Arif Nazir; Munawar Iqbal; Raqiqa Tur Rasool; Sheza Muqaddas; Abid Ali

doi:10.1021/acsomega.3c03314

Cobalt Ferrite Surface-Modified Carbon Nanotube Fibers as an Efficient and Flexible Electrode for Overall Electrochemical Water Splitting Reactions

ACS Omega. 2023 Oct 4;8(41):37927-37935. doi: 10.1021/acsomega.3c03314. eCollection 2023 Oct 17.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Chemistry, The University of Lahore, Lahore 54590, Pakistan.
² Department of Physics, College of Science, Shaqra University, P.O. Box 5701, Shaqra 11961, Saudi Arabia.
³ Department of Physics, Sakarya University, Sakarya 54050, Turkey.
⁴ Department of Chemistry, College of Science, Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, P.O. Box 84428, Riyadh 11671, Saudi Arabia.
⁵ Department of Physics, College of Science, Jouf University, P.O. Box 2014, Sakaka 42421, Saudi Arabia.
⁶ Department of Radiological Sciences, College of Applied Medical Sciences, King Khalid University, Abha 61421, Saudi Arabia.
⁷ Department of Chemistry, Division of Science and Technology, University of Education Lahore, Lahore 54770, Pakistan.
⁸ Department of Physics, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua, Zhejiang 321004, China.

Abstract

One of the most practical and environmentally friendly ways to deal with the energy crises and global warming is to produce hydrogen as clean fuel by splitting water. The central obstacle for electrochemical water splitting is the use of expensive metal-based catalysts. For electrocatalytic hydrogen production, it is essential to fabricate an efficient catalyst for the counterpart oxygen evolution reaction (OER), which is a four-electron-transfer sluggish process. Here in this study, we have successfully fabricated cobalt-based ferrite nanoparticles over the surface of carbon nanotube fiber (CNTF) that was utilized as flexible anode materials for the OER and overall electrochemical water splitting reactions. Scanning electron microscopy images with elemental mapping showed the growth of nanoparticles over CNTF, while electrochemical characterization exhibited excellent electrocatalytic performance. Linear sweep voltammetry revealed the reduced overpotential value (260 mV@η_10mAcm-2) with a small Tafel slope of 149 mV dec^-1. Boosted electrochemical double layer capacitance (0.87 mF cm^-2) for the modified electrode also reflects the higher surface area as compared to pristine CNTF (C_dl = 0.022 mF cm^-2). Charge transfer resistance for the surface-modified CNTF showed the lower diameter in the Nyquist plot and was consequently associated with the better Faradaic process at the electrode/electrolyte interface. Overall, the as-fabricated electrode could be a promising alternative for the efficient electrochemical water splitting reaction as compared to expensive metal-based electrocatalysts.