TY - JOUR
T1 - Pristine wood-supported electrodes with intrinsic superhydrophilic/superaerophobic surface intensify hydrogen evolution reaction
AU - Ling, Ruihua
AU - Lian, Qing
AU - Shan, Lianwei
AU - Xiang, Shengling
AU - Peng, Ouwen
AU - Li, Dongyang
AU - Amini, Abbas
AU - Wang, Ning
AU - Yang, Hao
AU - Cheng, Chun
PY - 2024
Y1 - 2024
N2 - Wood, as a renewable material, has been regarded as an emerging substrate for self-supporting electrodes in large-scale water electrolysis due to numerous merits such as rich pore structure, abundant hydroxyl groups, etc. However, poor conductivity of wood can greatly suppress the performance of wood-based electrodes. Carbonization process can improve wood's conductivity, but the loss of hydroxyl groups and the required high energy consumption are the drawbacks of such a process. Here, a facile strategy is developed to prepare pristine wood-supported electrode (Ni-NiP/W) for enhanced hydrogen evolution reaction (HER); this improves electrical conductivity of wood while retaining its excellent intrinsic properties. The preparation process involves the deposition of copper on the untreated wood followed with the loading of Ni-NiP catalyst at room temperature. Encouragingly, the Ni-NiP/W exhibits conductive and inherited pristine wood's superhydrophilic and superaerophobic properties, that effectively boost mass and charge transfer. It demonstrates high activity and excellent stability in acidic, alkali, and seawater conditions as well as high current densities of up to 2000 mA cm−2; particularly a record-low HER overpotential of 206 mV in acidic conditions at 1000 mA cm−2. This work fully unlocks the admiring potential of pristine wood as superior substrate for high-performance electrochemical electrodes.
AB - Wood, as a renewable material, has been regarded as an emerging substrate for self-supporting electrodes in large-scale water electrolysis due to numerous merits such as rich pore structure, abundant hydroxyl groups, etc. However, poor conductivity of wood can greatly suppress the performance of wood-based electrodes. Carbonization process can improve wood's conductivity, but the loss of hydroxyl groups and the required high energy consumption are the drawbacks of such a process. Here, a facile strategy is developed to prepare pristine wood-supported electrode (Ni-NiP/W) for enhanced hydrogen evolution reaction (HER); this improves electrical conductivity of wood while retaining its excellent intrinsic properties. The preparation process involves the deposition of copper on the untreated wood followed with the loading of Ni-NiP catalyst at room temperature. Encouragingly, the Ni-NiP/W exhibits conductive and inherited pristine wood's superhydrophilic and superaerophobic properties, that effectively boost mass and charge transfer. It demonstrates high activity and excellent stability in acidic, alkali, and seawater conditions as well as high current densities of up to 2000 mA cm−2; particularly a record-low HER overpotential of 206 mV in acidic conditions at 1000 mA cm−2. This work fully unlocks the admiring potential of pristine wood as superior substrate for high-performance electrochemical electrodes.
KW - electrocatalyst
KW - high current density
KW - hydrogen evolution reaction
KW - Ni-NiP composite catalyst
KW - superhydrophilic/superaerophobic
KW - wood
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85204470479&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - https://ezproxy.uws.edu.au/login?url=https://doi.org/10.1002/smll.202404420
U2 - 10.1002/smll.202404420
DO - 10.1002/smll.202404420
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85204470479
SN - 1613-6810
VL - 20
JO - Small
JF - Small
IS - 48
M1 - 2404420
ER -