A novel cathode catalyst for hydrogen evolution reaction: Ni–NiO@Ru

Abstract The clean energy requirement is increased with increasing global warming day by day. Hydrogen is the cleanest energy carrier among its alternatives. It is known that developed countries are reserving a share of their state budget for hydrogen production as an alternative energy source in recent years. Among these studies, hydrogen production by electrolysis of water is one of the most important. It is vital to develop cathode material, for such electrochemical processes. In this study, new catalysts using carbon, nickel, nickel (II) oxide (NiO), and ruthenium are prepared as cathode material. Nickel and ruthenium are deposited on carbon surface electrochemically and nickel (II) oxide by sweep effect. Electrochemical performances of prepared catalysts are tested by using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, cyclic voltammetry, chronoamperometry, and linear sweep voltammetry techniques. It is found that the best deposition time for Nickel and Ruthenium are 5 s and 30 s, respectively, and the best amount of NiO is 0.5 mg. Surface characterizations of the catalysts are performed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray Diffraction analyses. The SEM pictogram for the best catalyst shows that Nickel, Nickel (II) oxide (NiO), and Ruthenium are uniformly coated on the carbon rod surface. The developed Ni5–NiO(0.5mg)@Ru30 catalyst shows the high efficiency performance which has 80 mV overpotential and 86 mL cm−2 hydrogen production ability at 200 mA cm−2 current density for an hour.