Controlled fabrication of various nanostructures iron-based tellurides as highly performed oxygen evolution reaction

Abstract

Electrochemical water splitting is a process that shows promise for the sustainable conversion, storage, and delivery of hydrogen energy. The support development of electrocatalysts that support hydrogen and oxygen evolution processes (HER/OER) without requiring precious metals and with superior activity and durability is crucial for the broad adoption of water electrolysis. Compared to the traditional powder-coated type, a freestanding electrode architecture exhibits superior stability and kinetics. In this study, the layered FeTe-PANI nanocomposite is designed for hydrogen generation. Various nanostructures of FeTe-PANI like nanorods and nanosheets by controllable expansion of surfactants such as hexadecyl trimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB) can be adjusted to agglomerations. The nanosheets combined with nanorods (FeTe-PANI) show remarkable electrocatalytic activity with 195 mV overpotentials at 10 mAcm−2 for OER. Additionally, FeTe-PANI employed in a 2-electrode electrolyzer as a cathodic electrode electrocatalyst in 1.0 Molar potassium hydroxide media, yields a cell voltage of 1.52 V at a current density of 10 mAcm−2 with a noteworthy 80 h sturdiness, making it an ideal electrocatalyst towards empirical deployment of water splitting electrolyzers. © 2024 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.