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MoO2-based cost effective catalyst for hydrogen evolution via water splitting

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Abstract

Developing a cost-effective, highly efficient electrocatalyst for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is a major challenge. Herein, we developed metallic molybdenum dioxide (MoO2) films on a stainless steel (SS) substrate by a simple one-step hydrothermal process employing citric acid as a chelating agent. The experiment was carried out with different concentrations of the precursor solution. The porous and compactly arranged interconnected micro-sheets are shown by a MoO2 that enhances the HER in the acidic electrolyte. Its electrochemical study showed excellent water-splitting activity with more than 9 h of stability. The low onset potential of 60 mV and overpotential of 162 mV vs RHE at a current density of 10 mA/cm2 makes this electrode an efficient electro-catalyst for HER. Also, the use of low-cost substrates like SS and normal air annealing, makes the MoO2 sample, cost-effective and better for practical application.

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Acknowledgements

This research work is fully funded by DST-SERB, New Delhi under the project [grant number (EEQ/2021/000633)].

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  1. The Institute of Science, Dr. Homi Bhabha State University, 15, Madam Cama Road, Fort, Mumbai, MH, 400032, India

    Suchitra N. Sapakal, Ayesha Khan, Jairam M. Khobragade & Anamika V. Kadam

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  1. Suchitra N. Sapakal
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  2. Ayesha Khan
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Conceptualization, methodology, investigation, data collection, data curation and writing—original draft preparation was performed by SNS. Editing was handled by Ayesha Khan, Writing—review & editing, supervision was performed by JMK and AVK, all authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Anamika V. Kadam.

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Sapakal, S.N., Khan, A., Khobragade, J.M. et al. MoO2-based cost effective catalyst for hydrogen evolution via water splitting. Appl. Phys. A 129, 700 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00339-023-06987-2

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