Self-standing polyaniline membrane containing quaternary ammonium groups loaded with hollow spherical NiCo2O4 electrocatalyst for alkaline water electrolyser. Issue 33 (6th August 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Bhushan, Mani; Mani, Mariappan; Singh, Anuj K.; Panda, Asit B.; Shahi, Vinod K.
• Is Part Of: Journal of materials chemistry. Volume 8:Issue 33(2020)
• Page Start: 17089
• Page End: 17097
• Publication Date: 2020-08-06
• Subjects: Materials -- Research -- Periodicals; Chemistry, Analytic -- Periodicals; Environmental sciences -- Research -- Periodicals; 543.0284
• DOI: 10.1039/d0ta05373b
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2050-7488

Abstract

Abstract : A self-standing polyaniline membrane containing quaternary ammonium groups loaded with a NiCo2 O4 electrocatalyst is developed for an alkaline water electrolyser. Abstract : Bi-functional electrocatalysts are expected to improve the efficiency of overall water splitting in alkaline media by the simultaneous oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). We prepared a free-standing, anion-conducting and stable polyaniline (PAni) membrane, where the central secondary and two terminal tertiary amine groups act as gel inhibitors. The prepared alkaline membranes were used as substrates for loading an electrocatalyst and fabricating the membrane electrode assembly (MEA). Nickel cobaltite (NiCo2 O4 ) is generally considered a promising candidate for the OER, but has morphology-dependent bi-functional catalytic activity for overall water splitting that prompted us to develop the hollow spherical-structured NiCo2 O4 for simultaneous OER and HER in alkaline media. The reported electrocatalyst achieved 10 mA cm −2 current density at 1.63 V for the OER, and 0.24 V for the HER. The fabricated MEA showed better overall water splitting performance for the PAni-1.03 membrane in comparison with commercially available membranes, and good durability for alkaline water electrolysis at 50 °C under an applied current density of 200 mA cm −2 . Further, the proposed highly conducting and stable alkaline membrane electrolyser may be a turning point for efficient water splitting in alkaline media for O2 /H2 evolution.