Coaxial nanofibers of nickel/gadolinium oxide/nickel oxide as highly effective electrocatalysts for hydrogen evolution reaction

Abstract

Cost-effective, active and stable electrocatalysts are pivotal to hydrogen production via electrocatalytic water splitting. Here we report on the preparation of novel nanofiber (NF) Ni/Gd2O3/NiO heterostructures by an electrospinning technique. The fabricated materials show high electrocatalytic performance for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) with activities of onset potential at 89 mV, which is almost identical to that of platinum. The chemical and electronic properties of materials are successfully optimized in Ni/Gd2O3/NiO coaxial heterostructures; the NiO NF with Gd 3+ enhances remarkably its electrical conductivity and promotes HER reaction kinetics. It offers the distinct advantages of long-term durability and readiness for the integration into producing hydrogen via HER, affording better performance than benchmark Pt catalysts. The 2 successful fabrication of these metal oxides nanofibers and nanostructures may pave a new path for rational synthesis of efficient HER catalysts.

How Nanofibers Carry the Load: Toward a Universal and Reliable Approach for Tensile Testing of Polymeric Nanofibrous Membranes

“…[5] In the last two decades, indeed, nonwoven fabrics made of nanofibers gained increasing attention, thanks to their high surface-to-volume ratio and outstanding properties. Besides the application as highly efficient filters, [6,7] nanofibrous nonwoven mats (known as nanomats too) are successfully used in tissue engineering, [8,9] sensors, [10,11] catalysis, [12,13] and composite materials with enhanced mechanical performances [14][15][16][17][18] and/or peculiar properties. [19] In most applications, the assessment of mat mechanical properties is fundamental for evaluating effective applicability, and tensile testing is commonly performed.…”

Elaboration of Fe3O4/ZnO nanocomposite with highly performance photocatalytic activity for degradation methylene blue under visible light irradiation

“…Over the past years, researchers in the major of water treatment have focused on the improvement of nano materials which act as photocatalysts [16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27]. Several semiconductors such as SnO2, WO3,TiO2, CeO2, and ZnO have been utilized as heterogeneous photocatalysis [28,29].…”

Superior efficiency of BN/Ce2O3/TiO2 nanofibers for photocatalytic hydrogen generation reactions

“…Moreover, the addition of Ce reduces the impedance significantly, indicating a lower charge transfer resistance across the electrode/electrolyte interface. In addition, BCET2 exhibits the smallest arc radius and the lowest impedance, which can facilitate both the interfacial charge transfer process and separation efficiency of photoinduced carriers [80][81][82]. While both EPR and PL suggest a reduced amount of defects by the addition of Ce or BN, a more detailed analysis of the magnitude of the effect in comparison to the EIS results strongly suggests the importance of an additional mechanism for improved electronic properties.…”