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    Porous nickel telluride nanostructures as bifunctional electrocatalyst towards hydrogen and oxygen evolution reaction
    (Elsevier Ltd, 2017) Bhat, K.S.; Barshilia, H.C.; Nagaraja, H.S.
    Electrochemical water splitting technology has attracted researchers for the development of next generation fuels. Herein, we report the synthesis of nanostructured porous hollow nickel telluride nanosheets and their use as bifunctional electrocatalyst towards hydrogen and oxygen evolution reaction, anticipating an enhanced performance owing to their 2D sheet like morphology, conductivity, porous nature providing larger catalytic surface for water splitting reaction. In this regard, nickel telluride nanostructures were synthesized via an anion-exchange-reaction between pre-synthesized nickel hydroxide hexagonal nanosheets and tellurium ions under hydrothermal conditions. The as-synthesized nanostructures were characterized for structural, morphological and compositional properties using X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, high resolution transmission electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. Nickel telluride modified electrodes were tested as bifunctional electrocatalyst under acidic and alkaline conditions, through linear sweep voltammetry and constant current chronopotentiometry methods. The modified electrodes revealed an onset potential of ?422 mV and 87.4 mV dec?1 Tafel slope towards HER and overpotential of 679 mV and 151 mV dec?1 Tafel slope towards OER. The lower onset potentials are complimented with excellent electrocatalytic stability. © 2017 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC
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    Polymorph nickel titanate nanofibers as bifunctional electrocatalysts towards hydrogen and oxygen evolution reactions
    (Royal Society of Chemistry, 2019) Kumar, B.; Tarafder, K.; Shetty, A.R.; Hegde, A.C.; Gudla, V.C.; Ambat, R.; Kalpathy, S.K.; Anandhan, S.
    Producing pure H2 and O2 to sustain the renewable energy sources with minimal environmental damage is a key objective of photo/electrochemical water-splitting research. Metallic Ni-based electrocatalysts are expensive and eco-hazardous. This has rendered the replacement or reduction of Ni content in Ni-based electrocatalysts a decisive criterion in the development of bifunctional electrocatalytic materials. In the current study, spinel/ilmenite composite nickel titanate (NTO) nanofibers were synthesised using sol-gel assisted electrospinning followed by pyrolysis at different soaking temperatures (viz., 773, 973, and 1173 K). The presence of a defective spinel NTO phase (SNTO) distributed uniformly along the nanofibers was confirmed by X-ray photoelectron and Raman spectroscopy. The electron micrographs revealed the morphological change of NTO nanofibers from a mosaic to bamboo structure with an increase in pyrolysis soaking temperature. The electrocatalytic activity of NTO nanofibers obtained at different pyrolysis soaking temperatures for alkaline water-splitting was studied. The highly defective SNTO manifests properties similar to metallic Ni and favours H2 evolution through the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) by adsorbing more H+ ions on active sites. In contrast, the ilmenite NTO favours O2 discharge. These results are explained based on the morphology of the NTO nanofibers. The mosaic structure which has higher porosity and greater SNTO content shows excellent HER performance. In contrast, the large bamboo structured NTO nanofibers which have lesser porosity and SNTO content cage the bigger (OH)ads ions at their catalytic sites to facilitate OER performance. 2019 © The Royal Society of Chemistry.
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    Sol-gel electrospun ZnMn2O4 nanofibers as bifunctional electrocatalysts for hydrogen and oxygen evolution reactions
    (Institute of Physics Publishing helen.craven@iop.org, 2019) Shamitha, C.; Shetty, A.R.; Hegde, A.C.; Anandhan, S.
    Electrochemical water-splitting has gained significant attention for the development of next generation fuels. The present work is an investigation on the electrocatalytic activity towards both Oxygen Evolution Reaction (OER) and Hydrogen Evolution Reaction (HER) of ZnMn2O4 (ZMO) nanofabrics synthesized by sol-gel electrospinning followed by calcination (at 500, 600 and 700 °C). Poly(styrene-co-acrylonitrile) was used as the polymeric binder for the production of nanofabrics. The morphological features of ZMO nanofabrics were studied by scanning electron microscopy and field emission scanning electron microscopy. The electrocatalytic behavior of ZMO nanofabrics obtained at different calcination temperatures was evaluated using chrono-potentiometry, cyclic voltammetry, and linear sweep voltammetry in an alkaline medium (1 M KOH). The ZMO nanofabrics calcined at 500 °C exhibited the maximum electrocatalytic activity towards HER. This can be ascribed to their superior specific surface area (79.5 m2 g-1). The nanofabrics calcined at 700 °C displayed the least potential for O2 evolution and hence they are considered to be effective for OER. The results prove that ZMO nanofabrics are promising candidates as bifunctional electrocatalysts for water-splitting applications. © 2019 IOP Publishing Ltd.
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    Combustion-derived BaNiO3 nanoparticles as a potential bifunctional electrocatalyst for overall water splitting
    (Elsevier Ltd, 2023) J, J.; Jayalakshmi, D.; Rodney, J.D.
    Electrochemical water electrolyser though an assuring solution for clean hydrogen production, the sluggish kinetics and high cost of existing precious metal electrocatalyst remains a barrier to its effective utilization. Herein, solution combustion route derived perovskite type barium nickelate (BaNiO3) nanoparticles were developed and studied for their bifunctional electrocatalytic properties towards overall water splitting. The unannealed BaNiO3 nanoparticles exhibited the highest OER and HER activity with overpotentials 253 mV and 427 mV respectively to attain 10 mAcm−2 in 1.0 M KOH. Using unannealed BaNiO3 as a bifunctional electrocatalyst in a two-electrode alkaline electrolyser, the cell was able to achieve the benchmark current density at a low cell voltage of 1.82 V. Impressively the setup's electrocatalytic performance improved 4.9% after continuous overall water splitting for 24 h at 30 mAcm−2. Therefore, BaNiO3 nanoparticles can be a low-cost and efficient alternative for noble metal electrocatalysts for clean H2 production. © 2022 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC