Facile two-step electrochemical approach for the fabrication of nanostructured nickel oxyhydroxide/SS and its studies on oxygen evolution reaction

The fabrication of an efficient electro-catalyst, made of non-precious metals, for oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is an exciting task. A simple cathodic deposition followed by electrochemical anodic activation has been proposed to prepare a potential electro-catalyst, amorphous nickel oxyhydroxide, on a stainless steel (SS) substrate wherein the whole fabrication procedure completes within a minute. The proposed protocol demonstrates good electrical contact between loosely packed amorphous nickel oxyhydroxide and SS substrate. The experimental results demonstrate cathodic deposition time significantly affect interfacial charge transfer resistance and in turn OER performance. Electrochemical results reveal OER proceeds through the formation of NiO2 intermediate. The amorphous nickel oxyhydroxide@SS fabricated using cathodic deposition time of 40 s followed by anodic activation of 15 s display the low overpotential of 330 mV@25 mA cm−2 (1.56 V vs. RHE) with long-term stability over 70 h.