Reparation And Electrocatalytic Performance Of Copper-based Nanomaterials

With the improvement of contemporary material living standards,people’s demand for energy is increasing.Hydrogen energy has always been regarded as one of the ideal clean energy sources to solve the energy shortage and environmental problems.It only produces water during combustion and does not produce any pollutants.Electrolyzed water provides an effective method of generating hydrogen,which requires high catalytic activity of precious metal Pt and Ir-based catalysts as catalysts for cathodic hydrogen evolution reaction(HER)and anodic oxygen evolution reaction(OER),however,the high value and scarcity seriously of noble metal-based catalysts hinder their large-scale application.Therefore,it is particularly important to develop a low-cost and high-efficiency bifunctional catalyst for overall water splitting.In order to overcome the reduction in catalytic activity caused by the aggregation of metal nanoparticles,3D electrodes with large specific surface area and effective electron transfer are generally used as substrates,among which carbon paper,carbon cloth,nickel foam,and copper foam are commonly used 3D electrodes.Here,we studied the application of copper-based nanomaterials in the field of water electrolysis using foamed copper as the substrate.1.We prepared a vertically aligned nanotube array(Ru/Cu2+1O NT/CuF)with in-situ growth of Ru-doped Cu2+1O on a foamed copper substrate,and further studied its catalytic performance in water splitting.Ru/Cu2+1O NT/CuF has very good catalytic activity for both HER and OER.The alkaline electrolyzer using Ru/Cu2+1O NT/CuF as a water splitting bifunctional electrocatalyst only needs 1.53 V voltage to provide the current density of 10 mA cm-2,which is far lower than the voltage corresponding to the precious metal IrO2(+)/Pt(-)bifunctional catalyst currently used in large-scale industry(current density of 1.64 V is required to provide 10 mA·cm-2).2.We prepared a nickel copper phosphide nanosheets(NiCuP NSs/CuF)and further studied its catalytic performance as an water splitting catalyst.Studies have shown that NiCuP NSs/CuF has a good electrocatalytic activity for both HER and OER.The alkaline electrolyzer using NiCuP NSs/CuF as a bifunctional electrocatalyst for water splitting only needs a voltage of 1.51 V to reach 10 mA cm-2 current density,which is far superior to the precious metal IrO2(+)/Pt(-)electrolysis water bifunctional catalyst currently used in large-scale industry(providing a current density of 10 mA·cm-2 requires a voltage of 1.64 V).