In situ alloying silver/copper nanostructure as efficient electrocatalysts toward electrochemical water splitting

Abbood M.A.; Althomali R.H.; Al-dolaimy F.; Portilla R.M.; Abdullaev S.S.; Del Carmen Delgado Laime M.; Hassan Z.F.; Abbas A.R.; Alsaalamy A.H. · Ionics (2024) · DOI: 10.1007/s11581-023-05264-9

Resumen

Electrochemical water splitting for hydrogen production has gained significant attention in the renewable energy field. In this study, we have developed a simple and reproducible method to synthesize silver-copper nanocomposites as efficient catalysts for water splitting. Despite silver's lower activity toward both the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER), our Ag/Cu catalyst exhibits improved catalytic activity compared to similar composition electrocatalysts. Notably, the Ag/Cu catalyst demonstrates a remarkably lower overpotential of 203 mV at 100 mA cm−2 for HER and only 205 mV at 100 mA cm−2 for OER. Moreover, the catalyst exhibits enhanced charge transfer ability with lower charge resistance for both OER and HER, indicating its critical role in electrocatalytic activity.

Instituciones: Universidad Nacional Amazónica de Madre de Dios; Universidad Nacional José María Arguedas