One-step electrodeposition of Ni-Ce-Pr-Ho/NF as an efficient electrocatalyst for hydrogen evolution reaction in alkaline medium

Finding non-precious metal hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) electrocatalysts with high efficiency and low cost is a great challenge. A novel HER electrocatalyst of amorphous Nickel-Cerium-Praseodymium - Holmium coating supported on nickel foam (Ni-Ce-Pr-Ho/NF) was successfully synthesized through one-step galvanostatic electrodeposition. The Ni-Ce-Pr-Ho catalyst exhibited excellent electrocatalytic activity toward HER with a low overpotential of 78 mV at 10 mA cm(-2) in 1 M KOH. The Tafel slope of Ni-Ce-Pr-Ho electrocatalyst (121.6 mV.dec(-1)) indicated that the hydrogen reaction mechanism for Ni-Ce-Pr-Ho electrocatalysts followed a typical Volmer-Heyrovsky step. The remarkable HER performance was attributed to Pr and Ho doping, which resulted in the development of an amorphous structure, satisfactory intrinsic activity, and high conductivity. (C) 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.