Enhancing the Oxygen Evolution Performance by Introducing NiO-Supported Mesoporous Titanium Dioxide

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Electrochemistry
• Sustainable Energy

Background:

• Water electrolysis is crucial for sustainable hydrogen and oxygen production.
• Developing efficient electrocatalysts is key to advancing clean energy technologies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To synthesize nickel oxide-doped mesoporous titanium dioxide (x-NTO) for enhanced oxygen evolution reaction (OER) performance.
• To investigate the impact of nickel oxide doping concentration on OER activity and stability.

Main Methods:

• Utilized an acetic acid-assisted soft-template method with polyvinylpyrrolidone to synthesize mesoporous x-NTO.
• Evaluated OER activity and durability of synthesized catalysts in 1 M KOH solution.

Main Results:

• All synthesized x-NTO materials showed enhanced OER activity compared to pure TiO2.
• The 3.0 wt% nickel oxide-doped material (3.0-NTO) exhibited the highest OER activity, with a 0.270 V decrease in onset potential.
• 3.0-NTO demonstrated an overpotential of 340 mV at 10 mA cm⁻² and a mass activity of 66.50 mA mg⁻¹.
• The 3.0-NTO electrode maintained stability during 12 hours of electrolysis.

Conclusions:

• Nickel oxide doping significantly improves the OER performance of mesoporous TiO2.
• The 3.0-NTO catalyst shows great potential as a durable electrocatalyst for energy conversion technologies.