Implementation of novel pulsed laser ablation strategy to control the morphological growth and enrich the electrochemically active sites of multifunctional Ni-CuO electrocatalyst

Abstract

High-performance and inexpensive multifunctional electrocatalysts, which can drive different electrocatalytic reactions in the same electrolyte, are vital for energy conversion and storage applications. A novel laser-based synthesis method for the preparation of multifunctional Ni-CuO nanocomposites, which can be utilized in methanol oxidation reaction (MOR), oxygen evolution reaction (OER), and hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), is described herein. The growth dynamics of CuO in presence of Ni nanoparticles, as well as the corresponding effects on the electrocatalytic activity, are investigated. The prepared electrocatalyst exhibits trifunctional catalytic activity. The controlled change of the CuO morphology into homogenous nanospheres with more electrochemically accessible Cu sites results in excellent MOR activity with a high current density of 10.21 mA cm-2 at the vertex potential. Moreover, the electrocatalyst displays high oxygen and hydrogen turnover capability with outstanding operational durability in OER and HER. It is demonstrated that Ni-CuO can potentially be used as a bifunctional water splitting electrocatalyst in alkaline conditions. Importantly, this work provides a viable methodology, which can be employed for the development of efficient and stable multifunctional electrocatalysts by pulsed laser ablation. (c) 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.