Engineering Transition Metals As Noble-Metal Free Bifunctional Electrode for Overall Water Splitting
Authors: Kumaran Yamini , Efstathiadis Haralabos , Gherasoiu Iulian 
Published: November 2022

The emerging need of clean and renewable energy drives the exploration of effective strategies to produce molecular hydrogen. With the assistance of highly active non-noble metal electrocatalysts, electrolysis of water is becoming a promising candidate to generate pure hydrogen with low cost and high efficiency.[1] This reaction takes place almost exclusively on Pt/C catalysts at the cathode which is expensive and need to be replaced by a metal-based catalyst which can show a comparable HER (Hydrogen evolution reaction) activity. Transition metal oxides, nitrides and sulfides have been widely explored as catalysts for HER and OER (Oxygen evolution reaction) due to their good electronic conductivity, stable and variable oxidation states, and superior corrosion resistance.[2] In this research, MoNi4 embedded MoO3 nanorods are synthesized using facile hydrothermal method. Further, Molybdenum Vanadium Nitride is coated on top the synthesized electrode using RF/DC magnetron co-sputtering.[3] This combination of hydrothermal and magnetron sputtering fabrication methods of the electrodes results in high surface area of the electrodes thereby improving the reaction kinetics of hydrogen production. The performance of the electrodes is tested in N2/O2 saturated 1M KOH solution using steady state technique called Staircase Voltammetry (SCV) instead of conventional dynamic LSV (Linear sweep voltammetry)/CV (Cyclic Voltammetry).[4] This alternative method for testing is performed due to the exaggeration of the catalytic performance through conventional LSV/CV arising from double layer charging for nanostructured electrode. The electrodes are characterized by X-ray diffraction and SEM for structural and morphological analysis. Hence, we report the synthesis of novel MoVN on MoNi4/MoO2 nanorods using DC/RF Magnetron co-sputtering as an efficient, bifunctional, binder free electrode for overall water splitting. The electrode is characterised for both full-cell and half-cell configurations proving its stability for 12 hours. This work provides a reliable approach to the production of low cost and high-effectiveness electrodes for the application in commercial electrolyzers.

[1] J. Zhang et al., “Efficient hydrogen production on MoNi4 electrocatalysts with fast water dissociation kinetics,” Nat. Commun., vol. 8, no. May, pp. 1–8, 2017, doi: 10.1038/ncomms15437.

[2] L. A. Santillán-Vallejo et al., “Supported (NiMo,CoMo)-carbide, -nitride phases: Effect of atomic ratios and phosphorus concentration on the HDS of thiophene and dibenzothiophene,” Catal. Today, vol. 109, no. 1–4, pp. 33–41, 2005, doi: 10.1016/j.cattod.2005.08.022.

[3] B. Wei et al., “Bimetallic vanadium-molybdenum nitrides using magnetron co-sputtering as alkaline hydrogen evolution catalyst,” Electrochemistry Communications, vol. 93. pp. 166–170, 2018, doi: 10.1016/j.elecom.2018.07.012.

[4] S. Anantharaj and S. Kundu, “Do the Evaluation Parameters Reflect Intrinsic Activity of Electrocatalysts in Electrochemical Water Splitting?,” ACS Energy Lett., vol. 4, no. 6, pp. 1260–1264, 2019, doi: 10.1021/acsenergylett.9b00686.

Figure 1