Synergizing ternary CoMoW alloy with CeO₂ for enhancing electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Electrochemistry
• Catalysis

Background:

• Developing high-performance electrocatalysts is crucial for efficient hydrogen evolution reaction (HER).
• Multi-component catalysts integrating metal alloys and metal oxides show promise for enhanced catalytic activity.

Purpose of the Study:

• To design and synthesize a novel synergistic heterogeneous electrocatalyst for improved HER.
• To investigate the electronic interactions between ternary metal alloys and metal oxides for enhanced catalytic kinetics.

Main Methods:

• Fabrication of a CoMoW ternary metal alloy and ceria (CeO2) nanosheet composite supported on nickel foam (NF).
• Utilized a facile and fast electrodeposition method for catalyst synthesis.
• Characterization of the electrocatalyst's structure and electrochemical properties for HER.

Main Results:

• The synthesized CoMoW-CeO2/NF composite exhibited strong electronic interactions between the alloy and oxide components.
• The optimized catalyst demonstrated a low overpotential of 35.25 mV at 10 mA cm-2 for HER.
• The synergistic effect improved charge transfer, water dissociation, and hydrogen adsorption, enhancing HER kinetics.

Conclusions:

• The integration of CoMoW ternary metal alloys with CeO2 nanosheets creates a highly effective HER electrocatalyst.
• The designed heterogeneous catalyst offers superior performance compared to many reported catalysts.
• This study presents an effective strategy for constructing advanced multi-component electrocatalysts for energy conversion applications.