title: One-pot synthesis of metal-carbon nanotubes network hybrids as highly efficient catalysts for oxygen evolution reaction of water splitting.
abstract: Oxygen evaluation reaction (OER) is the most important reaction in hydrogen production from water splitting. Here we developed metal-carbon nanotubes (M-CNTs) hybrids with high metal oxide catalyst loading synthesized by arc-discharge and chemical vapor deposition (CVD) methods as electrocatalysts for OER in alkaline solutions. The M-CNTs hybrids produced by arc-discharge (M-CNTs-Arc) and CVD (M-CNTs-CVD) exhibit a core-shell-like structure, in which metal nanoparticles (NPs) encapsulated by graphite shells are connected by carbon nanotubes (CNTs), forming M-CNTs network hybrids. M-CNTs-Arc has NiCo0.16Fe0.34 metal core and shows very high activity and superior stability for OER, achieving 100 A g(-1) at an overpotential (η) of 0.29 V and 500 A g(-1) at η = 0.37 V in 1 M KOH solution. This is probably the highest activity reported for OER in alkaline solutions. The reaction follows the first-order kinetics with respect to OH(-) concentration and Tafel slope of 34 mV dec(-1). The results demonstrate a highly efficient, scalable, and low-cost one-step synthesis method for developing highly active and stable catalysts for electrochemical water splitting in alkaline solutions.
authors.affiliation: Fuels and Energy Technology Institute, Curtin University , Perth, Western Australia 6102, Australia.
authors.forename: Yi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.forename: Chang
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Hui-Ming
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.forename: San Ping
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Jiang