Nanostructured NiFe<sub>2</sub>O<sub>4</sub> Composites as Electrocatalysts for Hydrogen Evolution Reaction (HER) in Acidic Solutions Tshimangadzo Saddam Munonde1; Philiswa Nomngongo2; Haitao Zheng1; Mphoma Matseke1; 1THE COUNCIL FOR SCIENTIFIC AND INDUSTRIAL RESEARCH (CSIR), Pretoria, South Africa; 2UNIVERSITY OF JOHANNESBURG, Johannesburg, South Africa; PAPER: 210/Energy/Regular (Oral) SCHEDULED: 11:20/Wed./Asian (60/3rd) ABSTRACT: 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. References: [1] Shi, Y., Zhang, B. (2016).. Chem. Soc. Rev, 45(6), 1529-1541. [2] Lv, H., Xi, Z., Chen, Z., Guo, S., Yu, Y., Zhu, W., Mu, S. (2015). J. Am. Chem.Soc, 137(18), 5859-5862. [3] Xu, X., Sun, Y., Qiao, W., Zhang, X., Chen, X., Song, X., Du, Y. (2017). Appl. Surf. Sci., 396, 1520-1527. |