Electrochemically Fabricated Surface-Mesostructured CuNi Bimetallic Catalysts for Hydrogen Production in Alkaline Media
Jingyuan Bai, Jin Zhang, Konrad Eiler, Zhou Yang, Longyi Fan, Dalong Yang, Meilin Zhang, Yupu Hou, Renguo Guan, Jordi Sort, Eva Pellicer
Abstract
Ni-based bimetallic films with 20 at.% and 45 at.% Cu and mesostructured surfaces were prepared by electrodeposition from an aqueous solution containing micelles of P123 triblock copolymer serving as a structure-directing agent. The pH value of the electrolytic solution had a key effect on both the resulting Cu/Ni ratio and the surface topology. The catalytic activity of the CuNi films toward hydrogen evolution reaction was investigated by cyclic voltammetry (CV) in 1 M KOH electrolyte at room temperature. The Cu45Ni55 film showed the highest activity (even higher than that of a non-mesostructured pure Ni film), which was attributed to the Ni content at the utmost surface, as demonstrated by CV studies, as well as the presence of a highly corrugated surface.