The superaerophobic nature induced by the porous structure of Ni0.6Co0.4Se results in its superior electrocatalytic performance towards both HzOR and OER.

Developing high-performance hydrazine oxidation (HzOR) electrocatalysts is critical for the development of direct hydrazine fuel cells (DHFCs). In this work, we report a nanoporous structured Ni0.85Se/rGO HzOR catalyst fabricated by two-step electrodeposition. Compared to Ni0.85Se and NF, Ni0.85Se/rGO shows outstanding electrocatalytic activity and durability toward HzOR. A high current density of 408 mA cm−2, a small Tafel slope of 58.8 mV dec−1, almost 100% selectivity toward the complete hydrazine oxidation, and a high retention rate of 91.4% at 50 mA cm−2 after 24 h test can be observed for HzOR, which is at top level among recently reported catalysts. The mechanism for the impressively high durability of Ni0.85Se/rGO was revealed, which is associated with its larger ECSA, high electrical conductivity, well-maintained nanoporous structure, and the superaerophobic surface caused by nanoporous structure.

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Developing hydrogen production and utilization technologies is a promising way to achieve large-scale applications of renewable energy.