Self-Powered Hydrogen Production via Laser-Coordinated NiCoPt Alloy Catalysts in an Integrated Zn-Hydrazine Battery with Hydrazine Splitting

Abstract

This study proposes a novel approach for the rapid transformation of bimetallic NiCo-oxides into trimetallic NiCoPt alloys using a pulsed laser technique in an ethanol medium in the presence of Pt salts. The electrochemical results demonstrate the exceptional dual-functional activity of the optimized NiCoPt-10 alloy, effectively catalyzing both hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and hydrazine oxidation reaction (HzOR). Specifically, the NiCoPt-10 alloy presents a low overpotential of 90 mV at 10 mA<middle dot>cm(-2) for HER and a small working potential of 0.068 V versus the reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE) at 10 mA<middle dot>cm(-2) for HzOR. In situ Raman spectroscopy and theoretical calculations delivered insights into the dual-functional activity of the NiCoPt alloy. Consequently, the overall hydrazine splitting (OHzS) electrolyzer, employing a NiCoPt-10||NiCoPt-10 configuration, required only 0.295 V to deliver 10 mA<middle dot>cm(-2). Notably, using this dual-functional NiCoPt-10 catalyst as the cathode combined with Zn foil as the anode in a Zn-hydrazine (Zn-Hz) battery, achieved efficient hydrogen (H-2) production with an energy efficiency of 97%. Furthermore, self-powered H-2 production is realized by integrating the Zn-Hz battery with the OHzS electrolyzer, demonstrating its excellent potential for practical applications. Thus, this rapid synthetic strategy can aid in designing effective electrocatalysts for addressing challenges in H-2 energy production.