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In situ alloying silver/copper nanostructure as efficient electrocatalysts toward electrochemical water splitting

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Abstract

Electrochemical water splitting for hydrogen production has gained significant attention in the renewable energy field. In this study, we have developed a simple and reproducible method to synthesize silver-copper nanocomposites as efficient catalysts for water splitting. Despite silver's lower activity toward both the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER), our Ag/Cu catalyst exhibits improved catalytic activity compared to similar composition electrocatalysts. Notably, the Ag/Cu catalyst demonstrates a remarkably lower overpotential of 203 mV at 100 mA cm−2 for HER and only 205 mV at 100 mA cm−2 for OER. Moreover, the catalyst exhibits enhanced charge transfer ability with lower charge resistance for both OER and HER, indicating its critical role in electrocatalytic activity.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Prince Sattan bin Abdulaziz University for their support.

Funding

This study is supported via funding from Prince Sattan bin Abdulaziz University project number (PSAU/2023/R/1444).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Applied Sciences, Division of Medical and Industrial Materials Science, University of Technology, Baghdad, Iraq

    Manal A. Abbood

  2. Department of Chemistry, College of Arts and Science, Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz University, 11991, Wadi Al-Dawasir, Saudi Arabia

    Raed H. Althomali

  3. Al-Zahraa University for Women, Karbala, Iraq

    F. Al-dolaimy

  4. Faculty of Engineering, Academic Department of Medicine Veterinary Zootechnics, National Amazonian University of Madre de Dios, Puerto Maldonado, Peru

    Roxana Madueño Portilla

  5. Faculty of Chemical Engineering, New Uzbekistan University, Tashkent, Uzbekistan

    Sherzod Shukhratovich Abdullaev

  6. Department of Ingeniería Ambiental, Universidad Nacional José María Arguedas, Andahuaylas, Peru

    Maria Del Carmen Delgado Laime

  7. College of Dentistry, Al-Ayen University, Thi-Qar, Iraq

    Zahraa F. Hassan

  8. College of Technical Engineering, The Islamic University, Najaf, Iraq

    Ahmed hussien R. Abbas

  9. College of Technical Engineering, Imam Ja’afar Al‐Sadiq University, Al‐Muthanna, 66002, Iraq

    Ali Hashiem Alsaalamy

Authors
  1. Manal A. Abbood
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  4. Roxana Madueño Portilla
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  7. Zahraa F. Hassan
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Contributions

R.H.A. and M.A.A. have conceptualized the work, revised and review the MS, and conducted part of the experimental works. F.A. and R.M.P. contributed to the formal analysis and writing the first draft. S.S.A. and M.D.C.D.L. have contributed to the collection of the relevant references and outlined the work and data curation. Z.F.H., A.R.A., and A.H.A. have contributed to the visualization of the work. And all authors have reviewed and approved the final version of the MS.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Raed H. Althomali or Roxana Madueño Portilla.

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Abbood, M.A., Althomali, R.H., Al-dolaimy, F. et al. In situ alloying silver/copper nanostructure as efficient electrocatalysts toward electrochemical water splitting. Ionics 30, 433–444 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11581-023-05264-9

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