Pristine wood-supported electrodes with intrinsic superhydrophilic/superaerophobic surface intensify hydrogen evolution reaction

Ruihua Ling, Qing Lian, Lianwei Shan, Shengling Xiang, Ouwen Peng, Dongyang Li, Abbas Amini, Ning Wang, Hao Yang, Chun Cheng

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    Abstract

    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.

    Original languageEnglish
    Article number2404420
    Number of pages10
    JournalSmall
    Volume20
    Issue number48
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2024

    Keywords

    • electrocatalyst
    • high current density
    • hydrogen evolution reaction
    • Ni-NiP composite catalyst
    • superhydrophilic/superaerophobic
    • wood

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