Value added transformation of ubiquitous substrates into highly efficient and flexible electrodes for water splitting

• Published in: Nature communications Vol. 9; no. 1; pp. 2014 - 14
• Main Authors: Sahasrabudhe, Atharva, Dixit, Harsha, Majee, Rahul, Bhattacharyya, Sayan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Nature Publishing Group 22.05.2018; Nature Publishing Group UK; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: Bimetals; Catalysis; Cellulose; Cotton; Electrocatalysts; Electrodes; Electroless plating; Hydrogen evolution reactions; Molybdenum; Nanoparticles; Nickel; Nickel iron; Oxygen evolution reactions; Splitting; Substrates; Water splitting
• ISSN: 2041-1723; 2041-1723
• DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-04358-7

Herein, we present an innovative approach for transforming commonly available cellulose paper into a flexible and catalytic current collector for overall water splitting. A solution processed soak-and-coat method of electroless plating was used to render a piece of paper conducting by conformably depositing metallic nickel nanoparticles, while still retaining the open macroporous framework. Proof-of-concept paper-electrodes are realized by modifying nickel-paper current collector with model electrocatalysts nickel-iron oxyhydroxide and nickel-molybdenum bimetallic alloy through electrodeposition route. The paper-electrodes demonstrate exceptional activities towards oxygen evolution reaction and hydrogen evolution reaction, requiring overpotentials of 240 and 32 mV at 50 and -10 mA cm , respectively, even as they endure extreme mechanical stress. The generality of this approach is demonstrated by fabricating similar electrodes on cotton fabric, which also show high activity. Finally, a two-electrode paper-electrolyzer is constructed which can split water with an efficiency of 98.01%, and exhibits robust stability for more than 200 h.