Effect of annealing temperature on the bifunctional electrocatalytic properties of strontium nickelate (SrNiO3) nanoparticles for efficient overall water splitting

Abstract

The global trend in energy demand has paved way for clean hydrogen (H<inf>2</inf>) energy production at large scale. To address this issue, perovskite (ABX<inf>3</inf>) nanomaterials are widely researched to replace the noble metal electrocatalysts for electrochemical water splitting. In this work, the effect of annealing temperature on the structural and electrochemical properties of combustion derived strontium nickelate (SrNiO<inf>3</inf>) nanoparticles are studied. Benefitting from the unique features of perovskites, SrNiO<inf>3</inf> nanoparticles displays excellent OER and HER activity in 1.0 M KOH with an overpotential of 259 mV and 451 mV to achieve 10 mAcm−2 respectively. SrNiO<inf>3</inf> nanoparticles show superior HER activity when annealed at higher temperature and subtle change in OER activity. The stability of SrNiO<inf>3</inf> nanoparticles were noteworthy as it shows no degradation even after 12 h. The overall water splitting of highly active SrNiO<inf>3</inf> nanoparticles was carried out in a two-electrode system and the setup posted a cell voltage of 1.88 V at 10 mAcm−2 after continuous water splitting for 24 h. Thus, SrNiO<inf>3</inf> nanoparticles may possibly serve as a potential bifunctional electrocatalyst for H<inf>2</inf> production. © 2022 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC