Editors: | F. Kongoli, H. Dodds, M. Mauntz, T. Turna, V. Kumar, K. Aifantis |
Publisher: | Flogen Star OUTREACH |
Publication Year: | 2018 |
Pages: | 170 pages |
ISBN: | 978-1-987820-98-0 |
ISSN: | 2291-1227 (Metals and Materials Processing in a Clean Environment Series) |
Water electrolysis has recently progressed as the most efficient and attractive way of producing hydrogen [1]. However, to ensure the effective production of hydrogen yielding high current densities at a low overpotential, a catalyst is needed. Present advancements in the water electrolysis process have opened pathways leading to the synthesis of a variety of non-precious materials as electrocatalysts, in place of Pt based catalyst [2,3]. In this work, we present the hydrothermal synthesis of the non-precious nickel ferrite (NiFe<sub>2</sub>O<sub>4</sub>) nanocomposites for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). To increase the conductivity and therefore enhancing the activity of NiFe<sub>2</sub>O<sub>4</sub> catalyst, the various carbon materials (carbon black, carbon nanofibers, etc.) were composited with NiFe<sub>2</sub>O<sub>4</sub> nanoparticles. Post-treatment for NiFe<sub>2</sub>O<sub>4</sub> composites were applied to further boost the catalytic activity of the NiFe<sub>2</sub>O<sub>4</sub> composites. The composites show comparable activity and durability with commercial Pt/C for HER. The synthesized NiFe<sub>2</sub>O<sub>4</sub> material was characterized using the XRD, FTIR, SEM and TEM, EDX and XPS etc. techniques.