Research Progress of Bimetallic NiCo-Based Electrocatalysts for Oxygen Evolution Reaction

Abstract

[Introduction] The persistently increasing energy consumption and the environmental protection and energy security issues brought about by the burning of fossil fuels have raised widespread concerns all over the world. Thus, the development of technology for clean-energy production has become the major research priority worldwide. Hydrogen energy with zero pollution, high specific energy density, and abundant resources is one of the most promising alternatives to traditional fossil fuels. Electrocatalytic water splitting is considered as the most promising method for hydrogen production. However, the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) at the anode side has sluggish kinetics and low energy conversion efficiency, which is the major bottleneck for large-scale hydrogen production. [Method] The latest development of NiCo-based electrocatalysts for OER was summarized and discussed, especially the design and synthesis of NiCo-based electrocatalysts and the research strategies for improving their electrocatalytic performance in the OER process. [Result] In order to replace the noble-metal catalysts such as ruthenium and iridium, researchers have carried out a lot of research on NiCo-based non-noble metal catalysts. By regulating the chemical structure of a variety of NiCo-based-catalysts, including oxides, hydroxides, alloys, nitrides, sulfides, and phosphides, the activity of electrocatalytic hydrogen production is improved from the anode perspective. However, these catalysts have different defects, which need to be overcome by further research. [Conclusion] The development of non-noble metal catalysts with high OER activity is an important way to reduce the cost of hydrogen production from water electrolysis and promote the development of hydrogen energy industry. Although there are still some unsolved technical problems that limit the substitution of NiCo-based catalysts for noble metal catalysts, the research of NiCo-based catalysts, as an important substitute for noble metal catalysts, provides an important choice for the development of new catalysts.

Keywords

• hydrogen energy
• water splitting
• oxygen evolution reaction(oer)
• non-noble metal catalyst
• nico-based electrocatalysts