STUDY ON SYNTHESIS AND CHARACTERIZATION OF ELECTROCATALYST CONTAINING PLATINUM, PALLADIUM, NICKEL FOR HYDROGEN EVOLUTION REACTION IN ALKALINE MEDIUM

Abstract

Several kinds of electrocatalyst based on platinum, palladium, and nickel with glassy carbon substrate were successfully synthesized by electrodeposition method, and then applied for water electrolysis in alkaline media. Surface morphology of materials was investigated with scanning electron microscopy method. Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy was used to find the content of each metal in bimetallic materials. The result showed that the number of noble metals was moderately decreased while the catalytic activities were slightly better than pure metal electrodes. Linear sweep voltammetry measurement was taken in KOH 1M solution to find the overvoltage of hydrogen evolution reaction and cyclic voltammetry method in 0.01M K3[Fe(CN)6]: 0.01M K4[Fe(CN)6] in 0.1M KOH was used to determine the reversible capacity of material electrodes. The linear sweep voltammetry measurements confirmed that the activities of new catalysts are higher than the origin materials. The binary catalyst of Pt-Ni can replace platinum for hydrogen evolution reaction in alkaline medium. Notably, the replacement of platinum atoms with palladium and nickel atoms, and the combination of good properties of them leads to improve the catalytic activity, and in the same time to decrease the catalyst cost. Once again, the electrochemical parameters open up a new prospect for the hydrogen produce.