Publication

Abstract : The cathodic activity of Ni-P electrode for alkaline water electrolysis was enhanced by incorporation of CeO2-Al2O3 (Ce/Al) composite. The interaction of alumina in ceria was used for catalyzing HER on electroless deposited Ni-P in mild steel substrate. The crystallinity, size and optical characteristics of the composite were tuned by adjusting its composition during the synthesis process. The remarkable catalytic activity of Ni-P electrode with the present composite was due to superior stoichiometry of Ce (III) ions, which has resulted in an increase in oxygen vacancy concentrations and porous nature of the electrode surface. The enhanced stability of the prepared composite was achieved by changing the lattice parameter values of CeO2 lattice by its incorporation into Al2O3 lattice. The CeO2-Al2O3 (1:1 Ce/Al) composite incorporated Ni-P exhibited a very low overpotential of 61 mV compared to that of the bare Ni-P electrode (95 mV) at a current density of 10 mA/cm2. The high electroactive surface area of the composite incorporate coating is evident from the very high double-layer capacitance value of 3.23 × 10-3 F than the bare Ni-P electrode (3.8256 × 10-6 F). The modified Ni-P electrode is competent with other recently reported electrocatalysts for HER from alkaline solution.