Polymer Thin Films Embedded with Nickel-Copper Nanoparticles for Electrocatalytic Water Oxidation

A quick survey of the scientific literature reveals that many efforts have been devoted to the study of the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) with some inspirations from nature [1]. OER, the production of O2 by the electrochemical oxidation of water (H2O), is a key component of many important energy conversion and storage systems that utilize water-splitting as well as metal-air rechargeable batteries. Electrochemical oxidation of H2O has rather sluggish kinetics due to the high activation energy barrier needed for the formation of O-O bonds [2]. Therefore, efficient electrocatalysts are needed to drive the OER in a reasonable potential range. Hereupon, in this work, a promising electrocatalyst was developed based on a layer process by electropolymerization of ortho-aminophenol (OAP) on the surface of a nanoporous glassy carbon electrode was constructed as a proper polymeric framework for deposition of nickel-copper nanoparticles for the first time. After physicochemical characterizations of nickel-copper nanoparticles /poly(OPA)/nanoporous/GCE, Then the prepared modified electrode were used for the first time as efficient electrocatalyst materials to fabricate the modified electrodes for water oxidation in neutral media. The fabricated modified electrodes possess good electrocatalytic activity for water oxidation in neutral pH condition. The obtained results show that the prepared composite with nanosheet structure exhibit a progressive OER performance; providing a low onset potential, small Tafel slope, and stable operation for more than 12 h.