Enhanced electrolytic generation of oxygen gas at binary nickel oxide–cobalt oxide nanoparticle-modified electrodes

The feasibility and application of PPy in cathodic polarization antifouling

Cathodic polarization antifouling deserves attention because of its environmentally friendly nature and good sustainability. It has been proven that cathodic voltages applied on metal substrates exhibit outstanding antifouling effects. However, most metals immersed in marine environment are protected by insulated anticorrosive coatings, restricting the cathodic polarization applied on metals. This study developed a conducting polypyrrole (PPy)/acrylic resin coating (σ = 0.18 Scm^-1), which can be applied in cathodic polarization antifouling. The good stability and electro-activity of PPy in the negative polarity zone in alkalescent NaCl solution were verified by linear sweep voltammetry (LSV), chronoamperometry (CA), cyclic voltammetry (CV) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), demonstrating the feasibility of PPy as cathodic polarization material. Furthermore, the antifouling effects of PPy/acrylicresin coating on 24-h old Escherichia coli bacteria (E. coli) which formed on PPy/acrylic resin-coated plastic plate were measured under different cathodic potentials and treatment time, characterized by fluorescent microscope. The results suggest that at cathodic potential around -0.5 V (vs. saturated calomel electrode (SCE)), there was little trace of attached bacteria on the substrate after 20 min of treatment. PPy/acrylicresin-coated substrates were also subjected to repeated cycles of biofilm formation and electrochemical removal, where high removal efficiencies were maintained throughout the total polarization process. Under these conditions, the generation of hydrogen peroxide is believed to be responsible for the antifouling effects because of causing oxidative damage to cells, suggesting the potential of the proposed technology for application on insulated surfaces in various industrial settings.

Nitrogen-doped carbon encapsulating γ-MoC/Ni heterostructures for efficient oxygen evolution electrocatalysts

Developing efficient and earth-abundant oxygen evolution reaction (OER) electrocatalysts is of great importance in renewable energy research. Herein, we report nitrogen-doped carbon encapsulating γ-MoC/Ni heterostructures (γ-MoC/Ni@NC) for the first time as efficient OER electrocatalysts. The composites can be controlled by the addition of a Mo source to form a nanoparticle-assembled hierarchically porous nanostructure, which can enlarge the specific surface area, thus exposing more active sites. Moreover, we demonstrate that the formation of γ-MoC@Ni heterostructures and the resulting synergistic effect between γ-MoC and Ni can facilitate the reaction kinetics, leading to significantly improved OER activity with an onset overpotential of merely 240 mV, and a low overpotential of 310 mV to afford a current density of 10 mA cm^-2. This work provides a new insight into the development of highly active and inexpensive OER electrocatalysts.

Effect of doping β-NiOOH with Co on the catalytic oxidation of water: DFT+U calculations

Electrocatalytic water splitting using energy from sunlight represents a promising strategy for clean, low-cost, and environmentally friendly production of H₂.

NiCo2O4 3 dimensional nanosheet as effective and robust catalyst for oxygen evolution reaction

3D self-supported NiCo₂O₄ nanosheet exhibit remarkably enhanced performances for OER due to the enlarged electrochemical surface area and reduced electron transference resistance.